Putin offers to form Eurasian union

In an article he has written for the Izvestiya journal, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin indicated that he wanted to bring together all former Soviet Republics under a new roof, namely, the "Eurasian Union."  Putin, who's getting ready for returning to the Kremlin with presidential elections to be held in March, wrote that a higher integration level would be ensured both politically and economically thanks to the project, which wouldn't be identical to state structure of the former Soviet Union. "It would be naïve to try to copy or rebuild something from the past. The creation of a stronger integration and a new system of values based on a new political and economic foundation is inevitable in this era," wrote Putin, adding, "We're putting forth a more assertive target: a Eurasian Union to be built based on experiences of the EU and other regional coalitions." Putin also indicated that Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan would be added to the Customs Union which was established by Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia in 2009, criticizing Ukraine for its decision not to be included in this. Considering the new union as a supranational unit aimed at coordinating economy and monetary policy to be open to new members as well, Putin wrote that all the obstacles before trade, capital and labor movement between these three countries would be removed. Putin added that certain neighbors of Russia avoided joining the mentioned union on grounds that it would contradict to their decision to establish relations with the EU, but he defined their preference as wrong.