Russia should not start WTO talks from scratch-Putin

MOSCOW, June 18 - Russia should not start its negotiations to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) from scratch and will seek ways to maintain agreements it had already reached, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

Russia decided to drop its 16-year bid to join the WTO unilaterally and said it would only join in partnership with Belarus and Kazakhstan, leaving the trade watchdog in confusion over future negotiations with the new entity.

"How can we develop our future work with the WTO bearing in mind that we need to maintain the level of agreements already reached?" Putin asked Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina during a meeting, according to an official transcript.

The comments showed that Putin was now keen to make his proposal, which took other members of the WTO by surprise, work in practice. Many WTO members have been sceptical about the proposal but it has not been rejected out of hand.

Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus told the WTO members on Wednesday they were suspending individual accession efforts to look at ways of joining as a customs union but diplomats and officials said the proposal was fraught with difficulties.

The move does not have precedents in the watchdog's history.

Days before the decision Russian officials were saying the unilateral talks would be concluded soon with only few issues outstanding. Kazakhstan's talks are at a less advanced stage while Belarus suspended negotiations in 2006.

Meanwhile, the new customs union, which will only be created next year, was already dealt a blow when Moscow banned imports of Belarussian dairy goods citing technical regulation violations.

The row between the two neighbours was settled on Wednesday with Belarus agreeing to temporarily suspend dry milk exports to Russia and Russia agreeing to increase imports of cottage cheese and cheese from Belarus.

Nabiullina said the customs union members needed to bring closer their technical regulations as well as subsidies, calling for a coordinated policy in sectors with significant state interference where the three may compete.

"It is natural that our producers of some products are competing with each other and there should be a common agricultural policy," Nabiullina told Putin.