A Russian diplomat said he expects the country to become a full member of the World Trade Organization by the time of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Australia next September, RIA Novosti reports.
"This is a real forecast," Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov said following a ministerial meeting ahead of the APEC-2006 summit, to be held in Hanoi November 19.
Russia and the United States are planning to sign a protocol on the completion of their bilateral talks on Russia's accession to the global trade body in Hanoi.
"I can say we are 70% of the way to joining the WTO, and will be 80% or even 90% after signing the protocol with the U.S.," Denisov said.
The Russia-U.S. bilateral protocol will end six years of Russia's negotiations on WTO accession. Russia, the largest economy outside the 150-nation alliance, has yet to sign a protocol with Costa Rica and complete talks with Sri Lanka over the terms of the Ceylon tea trade.
Bilateral agreements must also be reached with the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia, which have troubled relations with Moscow.
It is expected to take Moscow six months to complete multinational talks with the body's 58-member Working Party to bring national legislation and standards into line with international norms.
