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Kremlin Aide: ‘Some Issues Need to be Clarified in Swiss WTO Proposal’

Russia hopes to reach a deal with Georgia over WTO entry terms after "clarifying" some issues in a proposal tabled by Swiss mediators, top Kremlin aide said after meeting between Russian and Swiss presidents on Sunday.

"There is number of issues, which need to be clarified," Arkady Dvorkovich, the Russian presidential aide said. "Swiss colleagues, who are leaving for Tbilisi today, will raise these issues in talks with the Georgian colleagues. Upon the results of these talks additional consultations by phone may take place between the Swiss mediators and the Russian side if needed."

"We hope that all the issues will be agreed in next few hours… There are no major issues, but some of the points need to be clarified."

"In case of a positive outcome we do not see substantial impediment for approval of all the documents by the [WTO] working party needed for WTO accession," he said.

It was not clear what are those issues which Russia wants "to clarify." The remarks by the Kremlin aide, however, may suggest that Moscow wants to include some changes in the Swiss proposal, which Tbilisi has accepted during the talks in Geneva last week.

According to the Georgian officials the proposal envisages deployment of international monitors from a private company at the both ends of so called "trade corridors" – reference to the breakaway regions, but not inside these regions. Trade corridors will be defined by their geographic coordinates not by names in an attempt to keep a status-neutral approach. A contractor company will be hired by a neutral third party, according to the Georgian side.

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