PM says no dead-end in Russia-WTO talks

New possibilities that Russia is expected to get when joining the World Trade Organization should prevail over negative consequences of this accession for different sectors of Russia's economy, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov told journalists in Sochi, the Krasnodar region, today. Kasyanov pointed out that the European Union supported Russia's accession to the WTO. Speaking about the WTO negotiations, the Prime Minister noted that the talks "have not hit a dead-end". He expressed hope that all difficulties of the negotiations would be overcome. He believes that any negotiation process requires a measured compromise, however, this compromise should not bring damage to Russia.

As reported earlier, on October 9 Russian Economy Minister German Gref declared that negotiations on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organizations had hit a dead-end and there was a danger that they would be suspended for a year. "The talks are unfolding very heavily. They have hit a dead-end," the minister said referring to his recent visit to Brussels, Belgium, where he had negotiated with the European Commission. "We were about to decide to suspend the negotiations on joining the WTO for a year," Gref stressed.