KIEV, Ukraine (AP) The presidents of Russia and Ukraine didn't discuss Ukraine joining a Russian-led customs union, one of the issues driving large protests now in their third week in Kiev, at a meeting this week, their representatives said Saturday.
The protests started after Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych backed away from signing a long-expected agreement with the European Union to deepen economic ties. Russia has pressured Ukraine to join a trade bloc also including Kazakhstan and Belarus. Protesters denounce attempts to bring Ukraine back into Moscow's orbit and contend Yanukovych aims to sell out Ukraine to Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Yanukovych met Friday in Sochi, the Black Sea resort where the 2014 Winter Games will be held. Details were few, but Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying Saturday that "the question of Ukraine's possibly joining the customs union was not discussed in Sochi." Yanukovych's office later issued a similar statement.
Peskov said the presidents paid special attention to "cooperation in the energy sphere." Ukraine's dependence on Russian natural gas gives Moscow considerable leverage, and economically struggling Ukraine has sought to negotiate lower prices.
Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, who came to power during 2003 mass protests in 2003 that prefigured Ukraine's Orange Revolution of 2004, met on Saturday with Ukrainian opposition leader Viltali Klitschko and lashed out at Moscow.
