The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan on Thursday created an economic union that intends to boost cooperation between the ex-Soviet neighbours, a pact which was at the source of the crisis in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Eurasian Economic Union — which Moscow had pushed Ukraine to join, helping spark the worst crisis in relations between Russia and the West since the Cold War — takes the countries’ cooperation to a “new level” while respecting their sovereignty. “We are creating a powerful and attractive centre of economic development, a major regional market bringing together over 170 million people,” Putin said during talks in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana.