Russia's finance minister said on Tuesday he was planning to hold a series of “constructive talks” with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Russia's accession to the WTO in early April. Russia has been seeking membership of the WTO since 1993. So far, it has completed bilateral talks with over 60 states but still needs to finalize discussions with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Georgia - the WTO members that still have trade disagreements with the country. “We are planning to visit the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on April 5-6, and we are expecting constructive talks, and [hope that] some decisions will be made,” said Alexei Kudrin, who is also a deputy prime minister. He also said that during his upcoming visit to the United States (to attend the spring session of the International Monetary Bank and the World Bank), he was due to meet with US Trade Representative Susan Schwab and US Department of Commerce officials to discuss Russia's admission to the WTO. Kudrin did not comment on the status of Russia's WTO negotiations with Georgia. Earlier today, Moscow's chief WTO negotiator said Russia would hold negotiations with Georgia on joining the World Trade Organization in late April. Tbilisi earlier vetoed Russia's accession to the world's largest trade body. Relations between the two former Soviet republics have rapidly deteriorated since Mikheil Saakashvili came to power in Georgia in 2004. __
