Russia hopes to join WTO in two to three years

Russia hopes to join the World Trade Organisation in two to three years to come, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov said at a Bangkok news conference on Friday.

"If, at the final stage of negotiations, we and our partners work efficiently, within the next two to three years we will be able to complete the talks", Denisov said.

Russia is close to the completion of bilateral talks on entry into the WTO with a whole number of partners. "The last steps remain to be taken. But they are the most difficult ones", said the deputy foreign minister.

Denisov recalled that the summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation /APEC/ forum in Bangkok is held following the WTO conference in Cancun, Mexico, in the middle of September. "The Cancun meeting has yielded virtually no fruit and the APEC is the first in succession international forum of the same calibre to discuss trade liberalisation", Denisov said. "This will make discussions especially poignant and topical", he believes.