The Geneva-based World Trade Organization, WTO, recently accepted Ukraine as a new member. This leaves Iran and Russia as the two largest countries outside the WTO.

Poland could block Russia's entry to the global trade organization if Moscow fails to lift the 2005 embargo on imports of agricultural products, a deputy agriculture minister said on Monday.

Russia has the backing of the United States in its bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), the economics minister, German Gref, said Friday.

Asia-Pacific leaders will press for an urgent revival of stalled world trade talks when they meet this week in Australia. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) has opened in Sydney, and trade and commerce are dominant themes of discussion. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

Russia's envoy to a 21-nation Pacific Rim economic alliance said Australia and other countries in the region support Moscow's bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Russia's delegation will begin Monday a new round of bilateral and multilateral talks on accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, and continue negotiations until July 27.

Russia intends to sign documents on its accession to the World Trade Organization with Cambodia in the near future, a government official said Tuesday.

Gunter Verheugen, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Enterprise and Industry, is arriving in Moscow Monday to discuss Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization.

Russia will start Wednesday bilateral negotiations with Saudi Arabia on its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), a Russian economics ministry official said.

Russia and Vietnam have successfully completed bilateral talks on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the economics ministry said Friday.

Russia hopes to complete bilateral negotiations on its accession to the World Trade Organization with Guatemala, Vietnam and Cambodia this summer, Russia's deputy economics minister said Sunday.

The completion of talks on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization has been postponed until the fall, the economics minister said Friday. "The timetable for the completion of talks has been moved to the fall," German Gref told a news conference at the XI International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.