Putin Confirms Russia’s Adherence to WTO Rules

MOSCOW. Sept 25 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia will follow the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) despite the fact that he did not sign the protocol of Russia’s accession to WTO.

“Regarding my signing of the WTO accession protocol: I did not sign anything. I worked for Russia’s accession, indeed, we all worked on it, but I did not sign the protocol. There are people trained to do that,” Putin said at a meeting on the regulation of activities in the sphere of architecture of the council on culture and arts.

At the same time, Putin reiterated that it does not matter very much who signed the protocol. “It’s not an important issue. What is important is that Russia has joined WTO and will follow its rules,” he said.

Putin also called for an analysis of the way these activities are regulated in other WTO countries. “We need to see what is effective in Russia,” he said.