EU seeks 'clarity' in Russia's WTO bid as regional bloc

(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission wants Russia to clarify its plans to seek WTO membership as a regional bloc with Belarus and Kazakhstan, a spokesman said.

"We are now seeking clarity from the Russian authorities on how they see this WTO accession going forward," commission spokesman Lutz Gullner told journalists.

"We will be discussing this with the Russian authorities in the next few days at all the levels that are appropriate," he added.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan would try to join the World Trade Organisation as a single customs bloc and drop their accession bids as separate states.

In a sign the EU side was caught off guard by the announcement, Gullner said that as recently as "a few days ago" Moscow had "confirmed its intention or objective to complete the WTO accession process before the end of the year."

A source close to the commission said that the Russian announcement might have been just a "political declaration" with "no impact on the adhesion process."

However, the source said that it might also be a way to speed things up or control Belarus and Kazakhstan's accession.

Or in a "worst" but "unlikely" scenario, the move could mean Russia wants to stop the process and start over again, the source said, though it was unclear what Russia might gain from such a move.