Georgia said on Saturday that negotiations to lift its veto on the entry of Russia to the World Trade Organization had failed, the talks broke down over the separatist territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia backed by Moscow. "The negotiations have failed.We have not reached agreement, "said the Swiss telephone to AFP Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Sergei Kapanadze, after a round of negotiations with the Swiss as mediators. "If Russia's position does not change, I see no reason to agree a new round of negotiations," he added. Georgia, as a member since 2000, WTO, blocking Russia's accession to the WTO, an open question for years, but which Moscow has managed to obtain the agreement of 2010 principle of the United States and the European Union. The dispute concerns the two Georgian breakaway provinces, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, de facto independent since the armed conflict and Russia's military intervention in August 2008, which Russia recognized the independence. Tbilisi continues to claim sovereignty over these territories, and therefore the right to monitor the borders. Mr.Kapanadze said that Georgia had agreed, however, a Swiss proposal providing for "oversight of commercial transit routes by international observers," but that Russia had refused this option. The question of the two border areas of Russia is poisoning relations between that country and Georgia since 2008. During a visit to Tbilisi Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy reiterated Moscow's commitment, noting that the Soviet Union "did not exist" and defending the territorial integrity of Georgia. Russia maintains troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia since 2008, and President Dmitry Medvedev has signed legislation providing Friday to install permanent military bases. The Vice-Minister of Georgia said his country could accept, however, further negotiations if the mediator Swiss deemed necessary. "Georgia is ready for further negotiations" in this case, he said. Russia, execrable relations with Georgia since 2008, is the last great world economic power not to be a member of the WTO. Moscow had sent last Monday in Washington, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, a close associate of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in an attempt to unlock this file. The United States, a major supporter of the pro-Western regime of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, had suspended their consent to the entry of Russia to the WTO after Russia's military intervention in Georgia in 2008. Russia, which began in 1993, its process of accession to the WTO, has repeatedly expressed his frustration at not seeing him succeed. Vladimir Putin on Thursday accused the West of using Georgia as a barrier to the entry of his country to the WTO. But some observers also question the willingness of Russia to abide by the rules of the organization, when it comes to creating a customs union with Kazakhstan and Belarus, two former Soviet republics that are not members of the 'World Trade Organization. "Does it serve Russia? Is fifty to fifty," said Mr Putin this week, who recently announced his intention to return to the Kremlin to the election of March 2012 and suggested the creation of a EAU bringing together states of the former USSR.
Georgia refuses to lift veto on Russia's accession to the WTO
Georgia said on Saturday that negotiations to lift its veto on the entry of Russia to the World Trade Organization had failed, the talks broke down over the separatist territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia backed by Moscow. "The negotiations have failed.We have not reached agreement, "said the Swiss telephone to AFP Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Sergei Kapanadze, after a round of negotiations with the Swiss as mediators. "If Russia's position does not change, I see no reason to agree a new round of negotiations," he added. Georgia, as a member since 2000, WTO, blocking Russia's accession to the WTO, an open question for years, but which Moscow has managed to obtain the agreement of 2010 principle of the United States and the European Union. The dispute concerns the two Georgian breakaway provinces, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, de facto independent since the armed conflict and Russia's military intervention in August 2008, which Russia recognized the independence. Tbilisi continues to claim sovereignty over these territories, and therefore the right to monitor the borders. Mr.Kapanadze said that Georgia had agreed, however, a Swiss proposal providing for "oversight of commercial transit routes by international observers," but that Russia had refused this option. The question of the two border areas of Russia is poisoning relations between that country and Georgia since 2008. During a visit to Tbilisi Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy reiterated Moscow's commitment, noting that the Soviet Union "did not exist" and defending the territorial integrity of Georgia. Russia maintains troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia since 2008, and President Dmitry Medvedev has signed legislation providing Friday to install permanent military bases. The Vice-Minister of Georgia said his country could accept, however, further negotiations if the mediator Swiss deemed necessary. "Georgia is ready for further negotiations" in this case, he said. Russia, execrable relations with Georgia since 2008, is the last great world economic power not to be a member of the WTO. Moscow had sent last Monday in Washington, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, a close associate of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in an attempt to unlock this file. The United States, a major supporter of the pro-Western regime of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, had suspended their consent to the entry of Russia to the WTO after Russia's military intervention in Georgia in 2008. Russia, which began in 1993, its process of accession to the WTO, has repeatedly expressed his frustration at not seeing him succeed. Vladimir Putin on Thursday accused the West of using Georgia as a barrier to the entry of his country to the WTO. But some observers also question the willingness of Russia to abide by the rules of the organization, when it comes to creating a customs union with Kazakhstan and Belarus, two former Soviet republics that are not members of the 'World Trade Organization. "Does it serve Russia? Is fifty to fifty," said Mr Putin this week, who recently announced his intention to return to the Kremlin to the election of March 2012 and suggested the creation of a EAU bringing together states of the former USSR.