Expected, but faster than expected.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a deal with his counterparts from Kazakhstan and Belarus to create an economic union.
Moscow says the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) of ex-Soviet states will create a shared market and help integrate economic policy, starting next year.
Critics say the project is an attempt to revive part of the old Soviet Union.
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko predicted Ukraine would join the bloc eventually.
Russia had pressed for Ukraine to join while Viktor Yanukovych was in power as president, before his overthrow in February by opposition forces looking to build ties with the European Union instead. Relations have deteriorated sharply since then amid violent unrest in eastern Ukraine.
The three presidents signed the agreement establishing the EEU at a meeting in the Kazakh capital, Astana.
Via the BBC. More at link.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27619156
