PARIS, June 24 (Reuters) - United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk rejected Russian accusations that Washington and the European Union were to blame for Moscow's failed unilateral bid to join the World Trade Organisation.
"Let's be clear on this, this is a Russia-created crisis and one they have to resolve," Kirk told Reuters on Wednesday in the margins of an OECD trade ministers' meeting in Paris.
He was responding to comments by Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov on Tuesday that the EU and the United States were to blame for Moscow's decision to ditch unilateral talks for a joint bid with Kazakhstan and Belarus.
Kirk will hold bilateral talks with Russian Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina in Paris on Thursday. (Reporting by Darren Ennis and Jonathan Lynn; Editing by Dale Hudson)