"I try to be a realist. And being a realist means in this particular case understanding that Russia must join WTO. This is, certainly, the strategic course of development of the world trade and world economy I would say.
"And unless you are in this mainstream, you would not have advantages to develop your own national economy in the sector which determines the progress in today's world," Lavrov said in an interview with Russia Today, the country's first 24-hour English-language news channel.
"But at the same time while I am convinced that we must join WTO, I am also convinced that we must join on the terms and conditions which would be nondiscriminatory to Russian economy in general and to those sectors of Russian economy which still might require for considerable period of time, but not indefinitely the protection from the state," he said.
The minister said that Russia needed to complete bilateral negotiations with its partners to finally join the WTO.
"Out of 58 countries we have 6 or 8 with whom bilateral negotiations have not been completed, some of them insist on demands to be included in bilateral agreements which go beyond the normal standard WTO practices.
"And some of the demands are not included in the standard list of WTO conditions and terms. This is, in particular, related to sectors like aviation industry in Russia, financial sector, banking in particular," he said.
"The conditions on which foreign banks could open up branches in the Russian Federation and also agriculture, which is one of the most sensitive subjects. We do want to support our agriculture.
"And the scale of our support which is being planed for the next few years is dozens of times less than the support provided by some of the leading WTO members to their own agricultural sector. So we do not want this double standard to be applied to us. And we want to have a fair deal to join WTO. And I am sure that eventually our partners would accept a fair deal," Lavrov said.
