EU and Russia sign protocol on WTO membership (China/US still left

[papau]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1504&e=6&u=/afp/20040521/bs_afp/russia_eu_summit_wto_040521122958

EU and Russia sign protocol on WTO membership (China/US still left)

MOSCOW (AFP) - The European Union and Russia signed a protocol concluding six years of thorny negotiations on Russian entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).

EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy and Russian Trade Minister German Gref signed the protocol in the Kremlin in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the EU leadership.

"This agreement will mark the end of a six-year marathon of negotiations between Moscow and Brussels on Russia's entry into the most important international trade organization," an unnamed Russian trade ministry official was quoted as saying by the ITAR-TASS news agency. <snip>

Moscow must still strike agreements with the United States and China before joining the WTO.