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WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) - Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization probably will be complicated by Moscow's announcement that it will only join the trade body in concert with Belarus and Kazakhstan, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative said on Friday.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the three nations would form a customs union with each other and put aside talks to join the WTO individually. [ID:nL91040501]
The decision was a surprise to the USTR, who was in St. Peterburg last week and met with officials about the WTO bid, said Carol Guthrie, a spokeswoman for USTR Ron Kirk.
"We are especially surprised since Ambassador Kirk had just concluded talks with senior Russian officials regarding the Obama Administration's commitment to seeing Russia join the WTO as soon as possible," Guthrie said.
"We still strongly support WTO accession for all three countries but are examining the implications of this unexpected move," Guthrie said.
Russia has been trying to join the WTO for more than a decade, and is the largest economy to remain outside the 153-member trade group.
The United States had raised concerns about Russia's bid, noting Moscow needed to do more to crack down on copyright piracy and lift bans on U.S. meat related to the outbreak of H1N1 flu. (Reporting by Doug Palmer and Roberta Rampton, editing by Patricia Zengerle)