Putin says U.S. setting new obstacles to Russia's WTO bid

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the United States had set new obstacles in negotiations over Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"We have received a list of items from our U.S. partners, which require more coordination but which we thought were settled long ago," Putin said at a meeting with Russian business leaders in the Kremlin, the Interfax news agency reported.

"We are being artificially held back in the negotiating process," Putin said.

The United States remains the only country with which Russia has yet to complete talks in its bid to join the world trade body. The Russia-U.S. talks have centered on financial services. One of the sticking points is a U.S. demand that foreign banks be allowed to open directly-owned branches in Russia.

Russia's Economy Minister German Gref said last month that Russian accession by the end of the year was "realistic." But Putin made it clear that Russia would only join the WTO on conditions it deemed acceptable.

"We confirm our interest in joining the WTO but say that we will take this step only if it satisfies all parties involved in this process, first of all Russia and its economy," he said.

Source: Xinhua