Russia and the European Union are expected to sign a document on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), following bilateral negotiations on the issue ahead of the Russia-EU summit due on December 7 in Brussels, Russian Envoy to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said on Wednesday.
"We want to sign the document on the sidelines of the summit," Chizhov said adding that the agreement may be signed either on December 6 or in the morning of December 7.
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said earlier in the day the document was expected to be signed on December 7 in Brussels.
Zhukov told the Russian-Spanish intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation that Russia had been able to work out a plan of action in the first half of 2010 to complete its WTO accession talks with the European Union and the United States.
"Russia and the EU signed a memorandum of mutual understanding on November 24 on the completion of bilateral talks," he said, adding that the document reflected the parties' position on the remaining disputed issues like timber export duties and pricing formulas for goods and services.
Russia, the only large economy outside the global trade club, has been negotiating its entry into WTO for 17 years. Russian and foreign officials have recently said that Moscow can become a member next year.
Russia has recently set up a Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan, and Putin said that the union had opened a new market for Europe's business.
BRUSSELS, December 1 (RIA Novosti)
