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Medvedev says substituting WTO with surrogates "dangerous tendency"

Behind different protectionist measures, one can often find a desire to destroy WTO and substitute it with something else, the Russian prime minister said
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Astakhov/Russian Government Press Office/TASS
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev
© Dmitry Astakhov/Russian Government Press Office/TASS

MOSCOW, November 4. /TASS/. Russia should use in full the agreements reached in the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO) because there is no better mechanism for Moscow now, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with the Chinese Central Television (CCTV).

"We are now told: ‘you know, WTO is outdated, we should set up new trade alliances’. We do not agree with this. We should use in full all agreements that we reached at WTO. Yes, this is not a problem-free topic, and WTO is probably not an absolutely universal regulator, but we do not have anything better. Any attempts to substitute WTO with some surrogates is a dangerous tendency," Medvedev said.

Behind different protectionist measures, one can often find a desire to destroy the World Trade Organization and substitute it with something else, he added. "We are against that. We, as participants of WTO, should be led by the principles of international trade enshrined in WTO, even if those principles do not always positively affect the current situation for some reasons. In general, we should share the spirit of the World Trade Organization, in order to make right decisions," the prime minister noted.

He added that coordinating interests of national producers and maintaining competition will always be a difficult process, and it is necessary to find the middle ground. Russia is ready for that, he said.

"We are developing trade relations with all countries, with our Chinese friends. We are trying to develop large-scale relations, not only bilateral but also multilateral, in the framework of existing opportunities. We will give signals to other partners, so that they behave accordingly, instead of trying to sacrifice the principles of the World Trade Organization and modern principles of international trade to some political interests, some political programs," Medvedev explained.