16 Sep 2011 16:48

Yanukovych statement Ukraine will not join Customs Union conveys political emotions - Putin

SOCHI. Sept 16 (Interfax) - Russia will not force Ukraine to join the Customs Union, but the advantages emerging from this are far more impressive than Ukraine's gains from its integration with the European Union, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said.

"We have just spoken about problems in the Eurozone. It is difficult for me to imagine Ukraine joining the Eurozone in this setting. It's an absolutely unrealistic thing," Putin told an investment forum in Sochi in remarks about the Ukrainian president's refusal to accept the invitation to join the Customs Union.

"This statement conveys political emotions rather than anything else," he said.