Nobody wanted to believe it could happen, then it happened. According to Maxim Medvedkov, Russia's chief negotiator on World Trade Organisation (WTO) accession, the WTO on 17 June in Geneva "received an unofficial, verbal notification of the suspension of talks during the time necessary for consultations."
Russia at the same time informed WTO members of plans to start accession talks as part of an (as yet unformed) customs union consisting of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. The 17 June ...
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.