Russia will not undertake additional unilateral obligations in WTO negotiations — Russian FM

Read it in Russian

Russia is ready to undertake additional obligations in the framework of the WTO negotiations only in exchange for trade-offs on the part of its foreign partners. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made the statement at a briefing in Strelnya, St. Petersburg, during G8 summit while answering a question on the reasons of US’ vetoing Russia’s access to WTO. Lavrov said compromise could be achieved by October 2006, whereas Russia is planning to access WTO in March 2007. The minister also highlighted that WTO is not the only way for Russia to develop its economy.

The G8 summit convened in St. Petersburg on July 15. In the coming days, leaders of Russia, USA, Japan, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, France, and Canada, as well as the Chairman of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso and heads of invited states will hold a number of sessions and bilateral meetings.