Russia is counting on U.S. real support in its WTO bid

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has called on the United States to fulfill its promise and facilitate Russia’s entrance into the WTO via concrete steps, rather than issuing declarations of intention to do so, as has been case during the previous administration. 

In an interview to the Dow Jones news agency and the business daily Wall Street Journal, Shuvalov noted that the time for Russia to secure its elusive WTO membership depends, first and foremost, on the U.S. White House and on how fast the Obama administration is really ready to support Russia’s efforts to complete the negotiation process, because the decisions of the other main players in the WTO depend on the U.S. position on this issue. 

“We had and now still have certain positive signals from the U.S. administration that it is ready to support us, but such signals need to be translated into concrete negotiation positions,” he said. “Previously, despite the fact the U.S. administration had made such declarations, but its subsequent behavior gave the impression that helping Russia secure the WTO membership was not its priority.” 

The first deputy prime minister noted that the only unresolved issues in the Russia’s WTO bid are matters that require the political will of both countries’ top leaderships.