Brussels, 10/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - Vladimir Putin added some cold water to the difficult process for Russian accession to the WTO with his announcement on Tuesday 9 June that Moscow intended to join the multilateral organisation governing world trade as a customs union with Belorussia and Kazakhstan and not individually. According to the Russian prime minister, the three countries will inform the WTO of their intention. Moscow, Minsk and Astana will also tell the WTO about the halt in the individual accession process of the three countries and provide assurances that their priority is still WTO accession but as a united customs union. The three former USSR republics want to set up united customs rights on 1 January 2010 and end all procedures for a customs union by 1 July 2011, explained Mr Putin. This decision will undoubtedly push pack the date for Russia joining the WTO and this comes just a week after the European Commissioner for trade, Catherine Ashton, and the Russian minister for economic development Elvira Nabioullina, agreed at the Saint Petersburg forum on 4 June to attempt to conclude Russian accession before the end of the year. Accession depends to a large extent on bilateral agreements on market access between Russia, the EU and Georgian being concluded. The Georgian conflict in August last year somewhat upset Russia's accession process to the WTO, which it began in 1993. Accession requests from Belorussia and Kazakhstan were submitted in 1993 and 1996 respectively. (E.H./trans/rh