Two days earlier, United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk and European Union Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton had completed successful talks on Russia’s accession to the WTO with Putin’s first deputy, Igor Shuvalov, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, and Minister of Economy and Development Elvira Nabiullina. As late as June 3, Putin had declared himself sure of Russia’s “swift joining of the WTO.”
普京的声明让所有人都深感意外。就在两天前，美国贸易代表罗恩·柯尔克连同欧盟贸易专员凯瑟琳·阿什顿才和普京的首席代表伊戈尔·舒瓦洛夫，财政部长阿列克谢·库德林以及经济和发展部长艾尔维拉·纳比琳娜进行了关于俄入世进程的成功会谈。甚至在6月3日时，普京还信誓旦旦地保证说俄罗斯要“迅速加入WTO”。