By Fredrik Erixon of the European Centre for International Political Economy

This is welcome news. Russia would benefit from being part of the WTO club. Its exports will not get much of a boost because they are dominated by the hydrocarbons and minerals (representing more than two thirds of total exports) and they are already traded at zero or very low tariffs. But Russia will benefit from lower prices of imported consumer and industrial goods, and, hopefully, from an increase in foreign direct investment (FDI).