30 Oct 2019 10:03

Russian minister calls situation at WTO "very lamentable"

PARIS. Oct 30 (Interfax) - Negotiations on reforming the World Trade Organization (WTO) are proceeding laboriously and the situation at the trade body is "very lamentable," Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin told reporters.

"We're working here, of course, the work is going laboriously and it is proceeding along several tracks simultaneously," Oreshkin said when asked about the reform of the WTO and discussion of this issue during his visit to France.

"We discussed this matter with the Saudi minister during a recent visit to Saudi Arabia. They have a number of initiatives ahead of the G20 [meeting that will be held in November 20 in Saudi Arabia]," Oreshkin said.

"It seems to me that the situation at the organization is now in such a very lamentable state and hopefully during the G20 [meeting] in Saudi Arabia we'll work out at least joint approaches to the process of reforming the WTO," Oreshkin said.