U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday that Washington wants to lift the Jackson-Vanik amendment.

Putin earlier said the Cold War-era amendment that restricts U.S. trade with Russia was an "anachronism" hindering Russia's World Trade Organization accession bid.

The 1974 amendment tied trade relations to emigration rights in the Soviet Union.

"She [Clinton] said the administration wants to remove the amendment but we don't know whether these plans can be implemented soon," deputy Russian government staff chief Yury Ushakov told reporters after Putin's talks with the U.S. state secretary.

Clinton attended a meeting of the Middle East Quartet of international mediators on Palestinian-Israeli peace talks in Moscow earlier on Friday.

NOVO-OGARYOVO, March 19 (RIA Novosti)