MOSCOW, Feb. 21 - It will be difficult to persuade Customs Union businesses to resume cooperation with Ukraine, Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Trade Minister Andrei Slepnyov told a press conference in Moscow on Friday.

"Will there be implications or not? Obviously, there will be implications. They already exist and there is probably nothing to add. What is going now is sad and tragic but it is also natural to a large extent as a reflection of the level of the economic policy the [Ukrainian] administration has been conducting for the last few years," he said, answering a media question about whether or not the current developments in Ukraine might have an effect on its relations with the Customs Union.