WTO Accession To Move Forward

The Russian government has announced that it will continue membership negotiations with the WTO on June 17, despite also proceeding with plans to form a customs union with Belarus and Kazakhstan. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stated that the government had dropped its original plan to join the WTO as part of a joint application with Belarus and Kazakhstan and would now seek membership unilaterally. The policy reversal is a major step forward for the country's plans to liberalise trade policy, though we maintain that the process will still be drawn out. We do not expect Russia to become a WTO

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