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Russia may joint WTO on December 15

Russia may joint WTO on December 15 Russia may join the World Trade Organization (WTO) on December 15, Arkady Dvorkovich, assistant to the Russian President, said on Monday. According to experts, President Micheline Calmy-Rey of Switzerland went to Batumi for getting the consent to it from Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. Previously she visited Moscow, where she had a meeting with her Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev. Nevertheless, some problems with Georgia have not yet been settled.

President Michilene Calmy-Rey ended on Sunday the talks with Dmitry Medvedev on Russia’s joining of WTO, and on Monday she went to Batumi for the final coordination of stands with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes. The experts specify that she went there to get an official consent of the Georgian leader. Tbilisi insisted that Moscow should ensure a possibility of control of Abkhazian and South Ossetian sections of the border by Georgian specialists.

It became clear on Tuesday that the confident statement, made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov several months ago, that Russia would join WTO by the end of the year without fail, was more close to the truth, than the emphatic promises of the Georgian leaders “not to let Russia in” until their demands were fulfilled by Moscow.

Dvorkovich told journalists on Monday that Medvedev and Ms. Calmy-Rey had discussed on Sunday all the details of the documents, needed for ending the talks.

“If no serious changes in the stands take place, there is a real chance to complete the process very soon,” Dvorkovich said. According to his information, a meeting of the working group may be held on November 11, and the process of Russia’s joining of WTO may be completed at a ministerial meeting on December 15, after which ratification will be needed.

If something goes wrong, however, Russia will miss the December conference of ministers of the WTO countries in Geneva, Moskovsky Komsomolets writes. The next such meeting will be held in two years. Anyway, Russia may join WTO without Georgia’s consent – through the WTO General Council, if it gets two thirds of the votes of the WTO member countries. This may take place not in December, but much later, however – late in Mach, at best. Naturally, the fact will not go to the credit of the incumbent head of state. Anyway, the whole world is interested in Russia joining WTO, and this is why one may hope that, whatever the circumstances, a way out will be found for the country to save face during the joining of WTO.

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