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U.S. Threatens Russian Trade Talks
U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez stated yesterday of Russia’s WTO accession that “They still have a ways to go. So it’s not as though they are close to it.” Both U.S. presidential candidates have called for the United States to reconsider its position on Russia. In June, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that negotiations with Russia were nearing an end. Nonetheless, Gutierrez and the Russian Ministry of Economic Development claim that the military conflict in South Ossetia is not influencing trade negotiations. “Economic, not political, issues are discussed at WTO negotiations,” a ministry source said. “Barack Obama is not a member of the negotiating group and is distant from the making of that decision.”
Georgia has been one of Russia’s main impediments to WTO accession all along, as it demanded that Russia reject all direct ties with South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Russia has completed bilateral negotiations and should become a full WTO member on January 1, 2009. Duties on export lumber and agricultural subsidies are the main issues left to be settled in multilateral negotiations. The Doha round of negotiations has collapsed several times now.
Ukraine has so far not been an obstacle to Russia’s accession to the WTO. But the possibility that it will raise a number of questions about Russia remains worrisome. Sergey Terekhin, chairman of the Ukrainian Supreme Rada committee on tax and customs policy told Kommersant that the South Ossetia conflict will not “formally” influence the course of negotiations. Ukraine is supposed to have its final list of proposals ready by September. Sources say no new initiatives are planned by Ukriane.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 14, 2008
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