in the campaign “Derailing the Association with the EU (2013–2014)”
The use of economic blackmail and promises of a loan together with a gas discount to coerce V. Yanukovych into derailing the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU: on December 17, 2013, a reduction of the gas price "to 268.5 dollars per thousand cubic meters" (instead of 410) was announced, along with the fact that "Ukraine, under the bilateral agreements, will receive 15 billion dollars from the Russian National Welfare Fund, selling Moscow its government securities for that amount." Putin stressed: "We consider this a temporary solution, bearing in mind that long-term, long-lasting agreements must and will be reached"[1].