Samuel Ramani: Why Europe’s last dictatorship is drifting away from Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) listens to Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting of the heads of state of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council at the Kremlin in Moscow on Dec. 21.
On Jan. 1, 2016, Ukraine acceded to the trade-related provisions of its association agreement with the European Union, ratified by President Petro Poroshenko in June 2014. Ukraine's entry into Europe's Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area was met with scathing opposition from the Kremlin.