Top envoy: Russia can offer Ukraine more than the EU

The Russian ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, said in an interview to EurActiv in October 2013 that the European Union had not offered Ukraine the prospect of full membership of the Western bloc, making a fully-fledged membership of the Russian Customs and Eurasian Union a better deal.

Communist MPs in Kyiv also advocated joining the Russian-led Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan, referring that a closer integration with the EU would not benefit Ukraine.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Moscow blocks the path to the EU http://www.europeansources.info/record/moscow-blocks-the-path-to-the-eu/

ESO: Background information: Ukraine approves EU deal despite Russian objections http://www.europeansources.info/record/ukraine-approves-eu-deal-despite-russian-objections/

BBC News, 15.10.13: EU embrace of Ukraine fuels Russia tensions http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24532292

EurActiv, 28.10.13: Ukrainian communists denounce the 'myth of the EU' http://www.euractiv.com/europes-east/ukrainian-communists-expose-myth-news-531359

---