Kremlin Declines to Comment on EU Commission Chief Letter to Putin

“We’re ready to hold wider consultations with Ukraine, the global Monetary Fund and other participants on this issue, and to discuss specific details of our proposal so they’re acceptable”, Siluanov told reporters in Moscow Wednesday.

Moscow introduced a one-year ban on agricultural produce, food and raw materials from countries that joined sanctions against Russian Federation.

Russia closing borders to UkraineOn 18 November, the Russian Minister of Economic Affairs, Alexey Ulyukayev, announced that the border between Russia and Ukraine would close from January onwards to all food shipments.

“It is highly likely that we will have to unilaterally protect our market from the uncontrolled access of goods via Ukraine’scustoms territory, from goods from third countries, first and foremost European Union countries”, Ulyukayev said in an interview on national television.

In any case, the Ukrainian powers put on a daring face, saying that in the course of recent years Ukraine has essentially cut its reliance on Russian markets. Russia’s share of the total was 32.2%, reaching $89.6m, which is two times more than in the same period of 2014. “If certain decision are not made until January 1, one of these decision will come into force automatically”, he said.

“If three years ago such dependence was on average 35 percent, then today it is 12.5 percent”, Yatsenyuk said.

On Sep. 16, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree introducing sanctions against 388 Russian individuals and 105 legal entities including 29 banks, over 20 air carriers, several military and industrial enterprises, and antivirus software producers.

But Stoicescu and Goble say that Putin is mistaken if he believes he will get a pass on Ukraine or be able to slouch on the Minsk agreement because of Russia’s bombing raids in Syria.

Political tensions escalated into violence in Ukraine after former President Viktor Yanukovych backed away from the agreement with the European Union in 2013.