KALUGA, Oct. 15 - Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has promised that Moscow will do its best to prevent Ukraine's planned association agreement with the European Union from harming the country's economic relations with Russia.

"Everything will depend on global developments and, let me be straightforward about it, on what happens after Ukraine joins the free trade treaty with the European Union. In that case there might be various kinds of developments," Medvedev said.