STRELNA, St. Petersburg, Nov. 22 - Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused European countries of putting pressure on Ukraine to persuade it to sign the Association Agreement with the EU.

"In fact, we have heard threats on the part of our European partners in relation to Ukraine, including even facilitation of mass protests," Putin told journalists in reply to a question from Interfax following a top-level Russian-Turkish meeting on Friday.

"This is what pressure and blackmail actually is," he said.