Georgia not renouncing conditions for Russia's WTO accession
TBILISI. April 26 (Interfax) - Georgia is not aiming to block Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), but nor is it going to lift the conditions that this Organization members must abide by, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalandadze said at a briefing on Tuesday.
"We repeatedly stated that we are ready to facilitate Russia's accession to the WTO, which is also proved by our consent to resume talks on this matter, despite our political differences with Russia," Kalandadze said.
There was no international pressure on Georgia on this issue, she said. "There was no pressure. All WTO members believe that this issue must be resolved by two sovereign states," Kalandadze said.
At the same time, the conditions put forward by Georgia remain in force, the deputy minister said.
"These conditions are based on the WTO rules which must be complied with both by the organization's members and its candidate members," she said.
The second meeting between Georgia and Russia as part of the resumed talks on Russia's WTO accession is due to be held in Bern on April 28-29.
