"We have no intention of signing or ratifying it. We have not changed our views," said deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.

The European Union had earlier called on the United States to follow Russia's ratification of the accord aimed at lessening the impact of climate change.

The United States helped negotiate the protocol under former president Bill Clinton's administration. But President George W. Bush refused to join the accord when he took office in 2001 because of the cost to US industry.

"We do not believe that the Kyoto Protocol is something that is realistic for the United States," Ereli said.

Russia's State Duma lower house of parliament approved the pact Friday by a vote of 334 to 73, paving the way for almost certain endorsement by the upper chamber and signature by President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow has long held the key to whether the landmark 1997 draft agreement would make the jump to becoming a working international treaty.

However, Ereli kept US reaction to the Russian decision to a minimum. "Russia has certainly had a vigorous debate on this subject," he said.

"At the same time, we've consistently made it clear that it is up to other nations to evaluate for themselves whether ratification of the treaty is in their national interests," Ereli said.

The European Union executive welcomed the Russian parliament's ratification and immediately called on the United States to follow suit.

EU environment chief Margot Wallstroem trumpeted Europe's leading role in backing Kyoto, while outgoing European Commission chief Romano Prodi said, "We hope that the United States will now reconsider its position."

Kyoto requires industrialized countries to cut or stabilize so-called greenhouse gas emissions by a timetable of 2008-2012 as compared with their 1990 levels. The United States signed up to a cut of seven percent.

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