That is possible

At the meeting of Vladimir Putin and Viktor Yanukovych, an agreement was reached in Sochi in the Customs Union, the British journalist, senior editor of The Economist, Edward Lucas, said on Twitter.

According to information received, as Lucas emphasizes, from a very reliable source, a strategic agreement concluded in Sochi also provides that Russia allocates to Ukraine at least $ 5 billion and sets the price of Russian gas for this country $ 200 per thousand cubic meters. As of the end of November, Russia, according to the agreement of 2009, supplied gas to Ukraine at a price above $ 500 per thousand cubic meters.

One of the clauses of this agreement, clarifies Lucas, is Ukraine’s consent to join the Customs Union in the near future. The journalist assumes that we are talking about a term until 2015, when the authority of Viktor Yanukovych expire as president of Ukraine.

There was no official confirmation of the information voiced by the journalist The Economist.

Earlier, the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that during a brief working visit, President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and Russian leader Vladimir Putin discussed the current issues of bilateral Russian-Ukrainian relations, as well as issues related to the preparation for the upcoming meeting of the Issues of Russia-Ukraine. " The press service of Yanukovych, in turn, said that the parties, in particular, talked about the preparation of a future strategic partnership agreement.

One of the leaders of the Ukrainian opposition Arseniy Yatsenyuk, commenting on the visit by Yanukovych to Sochi, said in an interview with Reuters that the signing by the President of Ukraine of any agreement related to the entry into the Customs Union will lead to new protests.

Yanukovych made a stop in Sochi on the way to Ukraine from China, where he was on an official visit. The conversation of Putin and Yanukovych lasted about six hours.

On November 21, Ukraine announced the suspension of the preparation process for the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU. Yanukovych said that the signing of such an agreement will turn into significant economic difficulties for Ukraine. In the capital of Ukraine and other cities of the country, mass performances of supporters of European integration began. The situation sharply aggravated after on November 30 a rally of supporters of European integration in Kyiv was dispersed by a special forces of the Berkut Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Based on the rejection of the Association with the EU and the force of the rally force in Kyiv, opposition factions in the Ukrainian parliament tried to resign the government led by Nikolai Azarov. However, the opposition could not gain the required number of votes to declare a vote of no confidence in the Cabinet of Ministers of Azarov.