This statement was made in an interview with RIA Novosti by the new permanent representative of Russia to the WTO, Nikolai Platonov.
“Even the most extensive network of preferential trade agreements is not capable of replacing it and will be limited in the composition of participants and heterogeneous in substantive coverage,” he said.
Earlier, Platonov said that Russia would not gain anything from leaving the World Trade Organization, especially since almost all of the country’s foreign trade is based on the rules of this organization.
He also noted that the voices of non-Western countries are increasingly heard in the WTO.