The U.S. is "encouraged by the progress"  in the Swiss-mediated WTO talks between Russia and Georgia, State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, said on October 31.

"Our understanding is that the talks are going quite well. We’re encouraged by the progress; they’re not finished yet, however," she told journalists at a news briefing, reiterating that the U.S. supports Russia's WTO membership.

"The Georgians have accepted the Swiss proposal, the Russians are studying it, we’re working through some of the remaining issues – or the Swiss are – and we remain hopeful that this will be a good avenue for resolving the outstanding issues," she added.