MOSCOW, Aug. 29 - Russia has denied allegations that it is trying to force Ukraine to join the Belarusian-Kazakh-Russian Customs Union and urges the EU not to misinterpret the essence of the matter.

"We are not forcing any decisions on Ukraine, and it is for the Ukrainian leadership and the Ukrainian people to make them on their own. We are being guided by the Ukrainian president's and government's statements on their desire to preserve and develop privileged and mutually beneficial economic contacts with the Customs Union countries, strengthen production cooperation with them, and not to lose their share on our market," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.