First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov with President
Vladimir
Putin: Shuvalov blames the U.S. for Russia failure to join
the WTO,
but the facts suggest otherwise.
Gazeta, Russia
Stop
Blaming America for Russian Shortcomings
"The same
external enemies appear both as an explanation for domestic problems and for
failures in the international arena. And the most often used is a cherished
combination of three letters: USA."
The Russian
government's habit of not answering for its actions inside the country is being
continued in foreign policy. Moreover, the same external enemies appear both as
an explanation for domestic problems and for failures in the international
arena. And the most often used is a cherished combination of three letters:
USA.
First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov (photo,
left), during a working meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin,
unexpectedly accused the United States of a sudden deceleration of talks on
Russia's accession into the World Trade Organization. "The main
differences we have with the U.S. are on well-known issues. They haven’t gotten
worse or better," Shuvalov reported to Putin. Without expanding on these
comments, he noted that on his level, the Russian side is ready to suggest
certain solutions to the remaining issues. "Unfortunately, so far from the
side of our American partners, there have been no steps taken to allow us to
look for such solutions. We have yet to receive any suggestions about how to
proceed,” said Shuvalov.
Meanwhile in
June of last year, when Vladimir Putin announced that talks on joining the WTO
would be conducted by the Customs Union
of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, Moscow deliberately slowed down and
radically and unilaterally re-formatted talks on the WTO. At the same time,
Kazakhstan was in the initial stages of WTO talks and Belarus had conducted none
at all. This decision naturally caused bewilderment among WTO member states; the
organization had no precedent for the collective membership of a multinational
entity. At the time, the Customs Union, which is headed by longtime Russian
negotiator Maxim Medvedkov of the Ministry of Economic Development, hadn't even
been created. Even now, although it formally came into being on January 1,
2010, a report from this same Shuvalov said, “the most basic questions of the
functioning of the association aren't resolved; for example, the sharing of
customs duties among the three countries and the issuance licenses for
importing of a number of commodities into Russia.”
These
imports were blocked precisely because of the Customs Union. Russian importers
had their old licenses annulled and didn't receive new ones.
But even if
the Customs Union functioned like clockwork, WTO accession still imposes
obligations that exceed the bounds of customs rules - in particular, access to
the country by foreign financial institutions, the level of direct state
subsidies to individual industries, and the fight against piracy.
Russia's
complaints about the United States would still be understandable if, after
Putin's WTO countermove, Russian authorities hadn't made conflicting
statements.
Meanwhile,
President Dmitry Medvedev has at least twice said that Russia may return to
direct negotiations with the WTO, including at the G8 summit in the Italian
city of L'Aquila.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Therefore,
Shuvalov's report to Putin, arguing that the Customs Union has created a unified
negotiating platform is, to put it mildly, unconvincing.
"We've
already explained that a customs union is in no manner inconsistent with WTO
rules and norms," said First Deputy Prime Minister Shuvalov However, there
has never been a statement from WTO headquarters that such a view is held by
the organization itself.
Moreover, the
chief of the customs union, Maxim Medvedkov, has also repeatedly spoken out in
the same spirit, that Russia may use all forms of negotiation (in other words,
direct negotiations as well).
After
stirring up this pot of porridge, which, in the United States, has logically
been interpreted as a cover for Russian reluctance to join the WTO (or at least
Putin's), Russia's government is now trying to pin the blame for the frozen talks
on others. Shuvalov told Putin that, as soon as the U.S. sends a proposal
regarding further negotiations, "we'll take corresponding steps to clarify
our position in the negotiating process.”
But what American
proposals is Russia waiting for if it can't even agree on the transfer of
energy with its partner in the Customs Union, Belarus - and when Russian
officials continue to issue diametrically opposed versions of Moscow's initial
negotiating positions?
Meanwhile, there
is a well-known sequence and logic to the exercise of Russian power. As
president, Vladimir Putin approved the basic but unspoken principle of supreme
power in Russia: it is faultless and can do no wrong. Therefore, the economic
crisis in Russia is officially considered “global," terrorism is always
"international," and as for the failure of negotiations with the WTO,
of course, it is the “irresponsible” United States that must answer.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
And of
course, we can't admit that Russia is the one powdering the brains of its
partners [pulling the wool over their eyes] in the talks, or that a decade and
a half of negotiations with the WTO has been in vain.
