"Our joint action (in the fight against global warming) comes within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol and we renew our appeal to Russia to ratify the protocol," Germany's Juergen Trittin and France's Roselyne Bachelot said in a joint statement.

The pair met in the French Atlantic seaside resort of La Baule on Monday and Tuesday.

The Kyoto Protocol requires industrialised signatory countries to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, the carbon-based pollution that is a by-product of burning fossil fuels and which is blamed for driving climate change.

The United States walked away from the deal in 2001.

That means Russia holds the protocol's future in its hands under the accord's ratification arithmetic.

In December Moscow signalled it wanted more concessions on the rules on foreign investments and clean technology.

In Moscow on Tuesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said Russia "would determine its attitude toward the Kyoto protocol based on national interests."

"As we examine this question, we are making sure that our country does not end up in a disadvantageous situation compared to other countries, both signatories and non-signatories to the protocol," the ITAR-TASS news agency quoted him as saying.

SPACE.WIRE