MOSCOW/KIEV, (Reuters) – Ukraine’s abrupt decision to return to Mother Russia’s bear hug after a flirtation with western Europe can be traced back to a secretive meeting of their two presidents two weeks ago.
The country of 46 million, squeezed between the European Union and Russia, on Thursday froze plans to sign a trade pact with the EU which would have marked a historic shift away from its former Soviet masters in Moscow.
Ukraine said yesterday the move was tactical and motivated only by economics. Russia denied using economic and political pressure to blackmail Ukraine into submission.
But Russian government sources said President Viktor Yanukovich’s decision had become all but inevitable after a mysterious meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Nov. 9 about which almost nothing has been reported. “It turned out beautifully – like stealing the bride at the altar,” an unnamed government official told the Russian business daily Vedomosti. “Everything changed after the meeting.”
Another senior Russian official described the meeting to Reuters as part of intensifying bilateral contacts as the signing of the planned EU-Ukraine trade pact in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on Nov. 29 loomed.
At the one-on-one meeting, this person said, Putin’s message to Yanukovich was clear: join Russia in a Moscow-led customs union and in return Ukraine will receive cheaper gas from Russia and escape trade sanctions. “We made clear to him that if he signs the agreement (with the EU), he will lose a lot immediately, that we will block Russian markets for Ukrainian goods, while the gains might not be there for years to come.”
But if he joins the Customs Union “he will have immediate advantages, including gas discounts,” the senior Russian government official said.
Until the Moscow meeting – which Ukrainian media said went on until 5 a.m. – Yanukovich and his team had stuck, publicly at least, to their commitment to move their country out of Russia’s sphere towards the brave new world of Europe.
This was despite tense negotiations, almost daily, between the EU and the Yanukovich leadership over the continued imprisonment of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, whom the EU see as the victim of a political trial.
Officials said both the Russian and Ukrainian sides had agreed not to discuss the Moscow meeting publicly.
