Medvedev will make a whirlwind tour of Silicon Valley, the U.S. technology hub he sees as a "quite interesting" model that Russia could follow.

Whether it will do so may be a different matter.

After more than a decade of relative freedom, Russia's economy is still stuck in its dependence on energy, sending natural gas to Europe and petroleum to the world, and leading Medvedev to look for new industries.

Russia must focus on improving protection of intellectual property if it wants to join the World Trade Organization, a subject that President Barack Obama and Medvedev are expected to discuss later in the week in Washington, a senior administration official said on condition of anonymity.

"The Russians are going to have to take the practical steps that any other prospective member of the WTO need so to take," the official said. Relations between Russia and the United States have warmed, recently, although that won't assure Russia membership in the trade group.

"This isn't a favor to us or to the WTO. It's deeply in the self-interest of protecting the intellectual output, the innovation, that comes out of Russian industry," the person added.

In Silicon Valley Medvedev will visit Apple Inc (AAPL.O) chief Jobs, John Chambers, the chief of Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O), which makes the guts of the Internet, and microblog sensation Twitter Inc's chief executive and founder, Evan Williams and Biz Stone.