Ukrainian political analysts believe that Ukraine will not be in a hurry to become a member of the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan for a number of reasons.
“It’s absolutely clear that Ukraine now cannot become a member of the Customs Union. This is not possible legally. These are a lot of procedures, and it’s necessary to approve a lot of laws,” Director of Kyiv’s Institute for Political and Conflict Studies Mykhailo Pohrebynsky said during a Kyiv-Moscow video conference entitled “The Results of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s Visit to Moscow.”
The expert said that it would be good for Ukraine to have some kind of “road map” at the end of which Ukraine will become a member of the Customs Union.
However, he said that if Russia is not satisfied with this approach, this would create serious difficulties.
In addition, Pohrebynsky said he did not see any problems in the format of Ukraine’s partial participation in the Customs Union, which has recently been discussed much.
Chairman of the Penta Center for Applied Political Studies Volodymyr Fesenko, in turn, said that in the issue of the Customs Union Moscow should understand that “there won’t be a quick result, because it is connected with the internal specifics of Ukraine and with the settlement of the foreign policy issue of European integration.”
He suggested that if there are serious difficulties in talks with the European Union, the negotiations on the Customs Union could be held more quickly.
“But again, it shouldn’t be expected that we will immediately agree to accession to the Customs Union. Only an acceptable compromise is acceptable even for [Ukrainian President Viktor] Yanukovych. He cannot agree, for many reasons, to a full and quick entry into the Customs Union. There will be no capitulation, as Moscow might expect,” Fesenko said.
