Instead of penning a landmark Association Agreement with the EU in November that would allow Ukraine access to the world’s largest market, Russia would prefer that Kyiv join the Kremlin-led Customs Union, which includes Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Ukraine has insisted that it only wants an observer status in the
organization, which it effectively received this year. The status only
allows the country to watch the inner workings of the bloc. Sergei
Glazyev, an advisor to Russian president Vladimir Putin, said on Aug. 20
that with the recent ban on Ukrainian exports, Russia was “testing our
preventive measures,” which the Customs Union will have to toughen
if Ukraine follows through with its plans to pen the deal with the EU.
