TBILISI, May 5 (RIA Novosti) - Tbilisi has urged Russia to rethink its decision to strengthen ties with Georgia's unrecognized republics if it wants to join the World Trade Organization, a deputy Georgian foreign minister said Monday.

Tensions between Moscow and Tbilisi have been escalating rapidly since Russia's outgoing President Vladimir Putin called for closer ties between Moscow and the two breakaway republics in mid-April.

The Russian economics ministry said Sunday the global trade body had published an updated version of a working group report on negotiations for Russia's membership to the WTO, adding that the talks had entered their final stages.

Russia has been seeking membership of the global trade body since 1993. So far, Moscow has concluded bilateral talks with over 60 states, but still needs to complete discussions with two WTO members - Saudi Arabia and Georgia.

Bilateral talks with these two WTO member countries should begin in mid-May.

Georgia refused on Tuesday to continue talks on Russia's WTO bid until Moscow revokes its decision to support Georgia's breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Tbilisi vetoed Russia's accession to the world's largest trade body last year. Relations between the two former Soviet republics have gradually deteriorated ever since the Western-leaning Mikheil Saakashvili came to power in Georgia in 2004.

Moscow's chief WTO negotiator Maxim Medvedkov earlier said that Georgia's demand that Moscow withdraw its support for Abkhazia and South Ossetia had not hampered another round of multilateral talks. He also said Russia could complete bilateral and multilateral talks on its WTO accession and join the organization by the end of the year.