Russia is piling the pressure on Ukraine to give up on its European ambitions. Kiev has drawn up an agreement with the EU, to be signed in November, which includes a free trade area. This would preclude Ukraine's ever joining Putin's customs union with Kazakhstan and Belarus. Losing Ukraine would effectively scupper Russia's ambitions to create a Eurasian space to rival the European Union. Moscow is now employing various tactics to prove to Ukraine that the EU path is not the right choice.
