Moscow - Russia cannot put off its accession to the World Trade Organization, said President Vladimir Putin.
"We cannot put this off for a year, or a couple of years. This would mean we are not joining the WTO," he told the State Duma on Tuesday.
Putin explained that a country joining the WTO is given six months "to decide."
"We had been in talks for 17 years. We now can put off this prospect and, in other words, not join the WTO at all. But this is going to be another story, I assure you," the president said.
The Customs Union has been built with the partners on the basis of the WTO principles, he said. "Integration in the post-Soviet space is priority number one for us," said Putin.
