SAINT PETERSBURG (AFX) - Russia is being 'looked down on' in WTO trade talks with the US but the two sides will be able to strike a deal on Russia's entry to the WTO, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said.
'We are in the role of the younger brother for whom it's harder, who is looked down on,' Kudrin told reporters on the sidelines of the G8 summit.
'There are always questions on a series of issues that we thought had already been decided,' Kudrin said a day after negotiators announced they had failed to agree on a deal that would have enabled Russia to join the WTO.
As part of its bid to join the WTO, Russia has signed agreements with all its other key trading partners and now needs a green light from the US to join the 149-member global trade body.
'There will be an agreement...It's in the interests of the United States,' Kudrin said.
In response to a question about negotiations on increasing the access of US insurers and banks to the Russian market, Kudrin said: 'On the financial sector we have a full understanding with the American side.'
'We can guarantee an absolutely acceptable level of participation of foreign capital in the financial sector,' he added, without giving further details. steve.whitehouse@afxnews.com dt/sw COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2005. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited