KIEV, August 19 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and Ukraine should reconfigure trade relations before joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), Russian Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref told a press conference Friday.
"We do not need to conclude specially devised new agreements, we just need to bring the existing agreements in line with international norms and regulations," Gref said after meeting with Ukrainian officials.
Gref said further trade relations would depend on the conditions under which the two countries joined the WTO. He said Ukraine should decide whether it would join the Customs Union (Common Economic Space) or it would conclude an agreement on a Free Trade Zone.
The minister said the level of bilateral integration and the rules regulating trade relations, including the number of changes on free trade regulations, would depend on the chosen model.
Gref said that if the conditions under which the two countries join the WTO were more or less identical, there would be no changes and domestic regulations would be unified. He also said that if conditions differ on key issues, changes to the Free Trade Zone agreement would be possible.
