Putin finally refused Ukraine to join the Customs Union

Ukraine will not be able to join the Customs Union (TS) after signing an agreement on associative membership in the EU, said Russian President Vladimir Putin at a press conference on the eve of the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Minsk. “No, impossible,” the head of the Russian state answered the question of journalists about such a potential development of events for Ukraine.

At the same time, Russia is not going to intervene in the process of European integration of Ukraine, the Russian leader noted, clarifying that Moscow is "not for and not opposed." "This is not our business at all, this is the sovereign right of the Ukrainian leadership represented by the president, parliament and government," he said.

According to Putin, the impossibility of connecting Ukraine to the TS lies in the creation of a free trade zone between Kiev and the EU, ITAR-TASS reports. The fact is that at first, "out of about ten thousand imported customs tariffs of 7 thousand 666 tariffs, Ukraine will have to be reset from the moment this agreement comes into force, which should happen in February next year," said Putin. After another three years, according to his estimates, the market opening will be at the level of 85.5%, and after a few years - by 98.5%.

“Such a market opening for us is very dangerous and unacceptable at the current stage of the development of our economy,” the Russian president emphasized. In the future, Russia seeks to create a single Eurasian economic space from Lisbon to Vladivostok, however, "this should be agreed, gradually," he added.

Russia does not need a "gift in the form of a screwdriver"

In addition, an obstacle to the simultaneous participation of Ukraine in the vehicle will be the introduction of the technical regulations of the European Union by it. As a result, almost all goods produced in Ukraine will obey the EU rules. According to expert estimates, this will require investment in the amount of about 100 billion euros.

Kyiv does not have such sources, Putin believes. In his opinion, this can lead to the displacement of Ukrainian goods to other markets, primarily to the TS market, which will require its protection. There will be no ban on importing goods, however, these goods will no longer use the preferential regime within the free trade zone, and the rule of the most favored nation regime will be extended to them.

Putin also noted that the goods will be considered produced in Ukraine even when it is made from components made in the EU countries. "This screwdriver is called, a screwdriver. We do not want to have a screwdriver assembly on its territory on a massive scale," the President "Interfax" quotes the words.

“We do not want from the rear porch we will receive some kind of gift in the form of a screwdriver,” he emphasized. The President believes that such a state of affairs can complicate the cooperation of Russia and Ukraine in the field of aviation, space, shipbuilding and mechanical engineering. Kyiv also agreed to completely open and liberalize the market of agricultural goods for the European Union, Putin recalled. Russia also cannot "accept all this on its own account and transfer to Russian soil," the president said.

Earlier, that Ukraine will not be able to "sit on two chairs" - to sign an agreement on associated membership with the European Union and join the Customs Union - Kiev was warned by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

The prospects of European integration of Ukraine have recently have been repeatedly become a reason for the exchange of threatening statements by the authorities of the two countries. So, two weeks ago, the Prime Minister of Ukraine Nikolai Azarov said that in the next few years, Kiev could completely abandon the import of gas from Russia. In response, the adviser to the President of Russia Sergey Glazyev excluded the introduction of a visa regime with Ukraine in connection with the "integration processes".

This week there was an assumption that convicted ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko could involuntarily save Putin from "geopolitical defeat". The fact is that its business can stall the process of European integration of Ukraine. The EU countries are sure that Kyiv has not achieved the necessary progress in an effort to comply with the criteria for signing an association agreement with the EU. The main claim of the EU is the refusal of President Viktor Yanukovych to comply with Tymoshenko's pardon.

Candidates in the TS - Türkiye, Armenia, India and Syria

Meanwhile, members of the Customs Union are building assumptions which countries can enter the Commonwealth of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. According to the Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, the body can be expanded at the expense of Turkey . As notes the Russian Newspaper , the Customs Union, in addition to Turkey, is interested in Armenia, India and even Syria. A review of the press materials on the topic publishes "headlines."

It is worth noting that the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko the day before, during a meeting with Putin and Nazarbayev, before the summit of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, proposed to write off Ukraine from accounts. “The doors to our association are always open,” Lukashenko said. His colleagues agreed only with the fact that the expansion should be approached carefully and the conditions for everyone should be the same.

Nazarbayev, speaking of Turkey’s interest in the TS, also stated: "They say that Syria wants to join the Customs Union." “Turkey is a large country, we have a common border,” he said. “Criticism would have disappeared, otherwise you won’t go to the West, they ask the question: what are you to recreate the Soviet Union or create something for Russia? Maybe Turkey will accept and the questions will end.” “Another major economy, one of the largest economies in the world, is the same interest, is India,” Vladimir Putin noted in turn.

Putin will discuss the free trade zone with Yanukovych, and for now he talked with him in Minsk

At a press conference in Minsk, Vladimir Putin also stated that the day before he agreed with the Ukrainian colleague Viktor Yanukovych on consultations on the eve of Kiev’s signing an agreement with the European Union. However, Moscow reserves the right to apply the protection measures that he mentioned, the president noted.

The day before, the presidents of Russia and Ukraine talked during a working dinner as part of an expanded meeting of the Higher Economic Eurasian Council in Minsk. On the eve of this, the press secretary of the head of the Russian state Dmitry Peskov said that "there will be no separate meeting with Yanukovych, but this does not mean that they will not talk."