Russia needs to resolve the last three stumbling blocks to the World Trade Organization (WTO) membership in three weeks, otherwise the process could be delayed, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said on Friday.
"We have only three issues that we need to resolve in the next three weeks, otherwise it will not be resolved for a long time," Shuvalov said, adding the question was about industrial car assembly, quotas for meat, as well as phytosanitary and veterinary control.
President Dmitry Medvedev said earlier on Friday that Russia, which has been negotiating its entry into the WTO for record 17 years, may join the global trade club by the end of this year, but not on any terms.
"Generally, as I can see, all the issues and all the formalities will be completed, but that does not mean that we will pass the ratification in the State Duma," Shuvalov told reporters on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
To solve the remaining issues, Russia needs to find some compromises, he said.
"This is a situation where we must take a package solution because ... making one decision or another without regarding the full picture, could lead to unfavorable consequences for Russia," Shuvalov said in an interview to Ekho Moskvy radio station.
