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Russia Closer to WTO After EU Deal

   VOA News 07 December 2010
   Russian  President Dmitry Medvedev, center, shakes hands with European
   Council  President  Herman  Van  Rompuy, left, and European Commission
   President  Jose  Manuel  Barroso  during an EU-Russia Summit at the EU
   Council building in Brussels, 07 Dec. 2010

Photo: AP

   Russian  President Dmitry Medvedev, center, shakes hands with European
   Council  President  Herman  Van  Rompuy, left, and European Commission
   President  Jose  Manuel  Barroso  during an EU-Russia Summit at the EU
   Council building in Brussels, 07 Dec 2010

   The  European  Union  has approved Russia's entry into the World Trade
   Organization, moving Moscow one step closer to membership in the trade
   body.
   Russian  Economy  Minister Elvira Nabiullina and EU Trade Commissioner
   Karel  de  Gucht  signed an agreement on Tuesday resolving outstanding
   bilateral issues that had prevented EU approval of Russia's entry bid.
   European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called the signing a
   "milestone"  in  the  process. Russia, the largest economy outside the
   WTO  and  the  EU's largest trading partner, applied for membership in
   the WTO in June 1993.
   Moscow  must  still  negotiate  the  final terms of its entry into the
   trade organization. But Barroso said that Russia becoming a WTO member
   in 2011 is now a "realistic perspective."

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