Russia not to give up its econ interests in WTO talks - aide
01.01.70
TOKYO, April 14 (Itar-Tass) - Russia does not intend to give up its economic interests when joining the World Trade Organization, Igor Shuvalov, an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his personal representative for G-8 affairs, told reporters here on Friday.
"We assume that we'll be joining WTO only on the conditions we regard as acceptable for us. We won't cede our economic interests," Shuvalov underlined.
According to him, the Russian leadership counted on completing WTO talks by the end of 2005.
However, the talks with the United States are still dragging on. "The USA is the biggest difficulty for us now," Shuvalov said.
Moscow and Washington have agreed on a number of issues, but USA has "brought forward additional demands, and returned to earlier positions in the negotiations."
"We believe that it's unacceptable," he underlined.
Shuvalov is in Tokyo within the framework of his tour of the G-8 countries. Prior to the visit to Japan, he visited Canada and the United States. He is yet to tour the European member-states of the G-8 group.