MOSCOW: Russia's negotiations to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are gathering momentum, the country's top negotiator said on Friday after the country wrapped up the latest round of accession talks in Geneva. Russia has been seeking WTO membership since 1993 and with a gross domestic product of $1.2 trillion is by far the largest economy outside the 153-member organisation. US President Barack Obama will discuss the Russian bid with President Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Japan on Nov. 14. “The talks are gathering momentum. The number of issues to be solved is very insignificant compared with the number of issues that were solved already,” Maxim Medvedkov told Reuters in a telephone interview from Geneva. “It does not mean that problems cannot arise but we have a common understanding with our partners about how to solve them,” Medvedkov said. Medvedkov said the remaining issues in negotiations on tariffs included timber and meat tariffs while there were no serious issues in negotiations on services. The talks will resume at the start of December. Talks on Russia's WTO entry accelerated after a June summit in Washington when Obama and Medvedev urged negotiators to reach a deal by the end of September 2010. White House National Economic Council director Larry Summers visited Moscow last week for a meeting with government officials saying “end is in sight” for Russia's bid. Medvedkov said the accession working party, which includes 62 states, was working on changes to its report, which will serve as the basis for membership, linked to creation of the customs union between Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus this year. Medvedkov said that Georgia, which fought a brief war with Russia in August 2008 and is objecting to the Russian membership, had requested additional talks with Russia. He said Georgia did not specify what it wants to discuss. There was no immediate comment from Georgia. As an existing member of the trade bloc, Georgia can veto Russia's long-delayed accession. But to do that risks irritating ally the United States, which backs Russia's entry to the WTO as part of a plan to “re-set” troubled relations with Moscow. Georgia says Moscow should not be admitted to the organisation until it has agreed to a deal with Tbilisi over customs controls on the internationally recognised border between the two countries.
