The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has lambasted Russia for being too slow to bring the country's anti-doping agency up to international standards. 

WADA president Craig Reedie said at a conference on anti-doping on Wednesday in Lausanne that there had been some significant progress made by the Russian anti-doping agency, RUSADA, under new management, but added it was still taking a long time.

"We want to welcome an independent and efficient RUSADA back in from the cold. It is just a pity that it is taking so long for Russian authorities to make it happen," said Reedie. 

"The progress towards RUSADA becoming compliant again is slow, despite a significant amount of work being carried out by WADA and others to persuade the Russian authorities to recognize and accept as true the systemic doping scheme revealed by the McLaren investigation, and the Schmidt commission."

Meanwhile, WADA Director General Olivier Niggli, informed that the WADA has reached out to the Investigation Committee by letters, but hadn't got a response. 

"We know they have received the letters. We have an open line of communication with the Sport Ministry and the NOC and we're going to keep that line. And I think we both understand that that is in both, in everybody's interest, and in the athletes’ interest to try to find a way forward," he said.

However, Russia's anti-doping agency's chief has hit back, claiming it was not in his power to speed up progress towards reinstatement. 

After participating in a panel on how to rebuild anti-doping in Russia at WADA's annual symposium in Lausanne, Yuri Ganus clarified that they were not responsible for the situation and we do our best especially to provide the land (to fill the gap) between the WADA (the World Anti-Doping Agency) and our center of power. 

"We provide the main points from WADA, because I am in all time in close contact with WADA, and understand their position and they provide this position and I translate this position to our officials," said Ganus.

The Russian anti-doping agency was declared non-compliant in 2015 after a report commissioned by WADA found widespread doping in the country's athletics. Since then, the International Olympic Committee and the WADA have launched a string of investigations -- including one by Canadian sports lawyer Richard McLaren -- to look into the issues which ballooned into the biggest doping scandal in years, engulfing many sports and said to involve more than 1,000 athletes.