Russia wants clarity about Ukraine's accession to Customs Union - ambassador
KYIV. June 10 (Interfax) - Russia does not insist on Ukraine's accession to the Belarusian-Kazakh-Russian Customs Union, but it would like to have clarity about Ukraine's position toward this, said Russian Ambassador to Kyiv Mikhail Zurabov.
"Believe me, Russia does not insist on any particular answer. Russia just wants clarity in this issue," Zurabov told journalists in Kyiv on Friday.
"We do not have the desire to impose this decision on anyone. We only want clarity. We want this decision to be made in the foreseeable future, because we will form our national development program depending on this," he said.
Ukraine's membership of the Customs Union envisions the establishment of a common market and the lifting of any restrictions on access of goods, he said.
If Ukraine does not intend to join the Customs Union, this will apparently mean that Ukraine plans to build such a common market with Europe, Zurabov said.
As soon as Russia has clarity about this issue, it will be able to carry out modernization leaning on other forces and states, he said.
"Just as China, Russia will be spending huge money on its technological and structural modernization," Zurabov said.
"This will involve dozens and hundreds of billions of dollars annually," he said.