President Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday that delays in Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organisation "irritate" Moscow but added that his country was still ready to join the global trade body.
"Russia is ready for accession on normal, non-discriminatory terms. We will do everything that is necessary. This process has dragged out and this irritates us," Medvedev said in televised remarks.
"We are not making a tragedy out of the fact that the process has been drawn out. The main thing is that it does not become a never-ending story," Medvedev said at a joint press conference with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.
Russia's WTO hopes suffered a setback last year after its war with Georgia badly strained relations with the West, and the United States cast doubt on Russia's bid to join the international body.
Moscow responded that its WTO bid was an economic matter that should not be politicised, but trade negotiations made little progress.
Russia is the largest world economy still outside the WTO. Initial membership negotiations started in 1993 but were delayed by disputes over a variety of issues, including enforcement of copyright laws and meat exports.
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