Canada supports delaying Russian entry into OECD: Trade Minister Ed Fast

OTTAWA – International Trade Minister Ed Fast says Canada supports a decision by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development to delay Russia’s entry to the group.

He says Russia should not be a member of the 34-country OECD until it backs off from its aggressive stance on Ukraine.

Fast is at an OECD ministerial meeting in Paris.

He says Canada will continue to work with allies to keep up the economic and political pressure on Russia.

Fast says Russia’s occupation of the Crimean peninsula and its continued aggression against Ukraine are at odds with all the OECD’s values.

Russia has been negotiating entry into the organization since 2007.