All terms related to Russia's WTO bid agreed: FM
11:08, 22 October 2011
MOSCOW. October 22. KAZINFORM Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Russia has agreed to all the terms for joining the World Trade Organization (WTO); Kazinform refers to Xinhua.
"Now I can say all the issues related to Russia's bid to join the WTO have been settled, the issues related to the standards and the regulations of the WTO," Lavrov said in an interview with Russia's three leading radio stations.
Lavrov added that Georgia's opposition to Russia's WTO accession "is not an obstacle," saying Russia has "proposed several options to resolve the issue."
Russia, which has been seeking WTO membership for some 18 years, is the largest economy remaining outside the global trade organization.
Georgia is the only WTO member which blocks Russia's accession into the organization. It demands that Moscow close customs offices in its two breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.