KIEV, Aug. 20 – Russia assured Ukraine on Tuesday that it effectively stopped the vigorous scrutiny of Ukrainian shipments over the past six days that had left a backlog of cargo at the border.

The move follows negotiations between the countries’ customs services on Monday that had been ordered by Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev.

“The Russian party has assured us that as of today, additional customs control procedures against Ukrainian goods do not apply,” the Ukrainian Revenue and Fees Ministry reported Tuesday. “The goods produced by Ukrainian companies are now cleared in a normal mode.”

“The severity of the problem has now been eased,” the ministry said.

The development signals the worst may be over in the trade dispute between Moscow and Kiev that has exploded six days ago when Russia had effectively blocked the imports of Ukrainian goods.

Ukrainian politicians said the blockade was an attempt to prevent Ukraine from signing free trade and political association agreements with the European Union in November.

Sergei Glaziev, who advises Russian President Vladimir Putin on trade issues and who is believed to be the mastermind of the blockade, said Sunday Moscow will implement tougher trade sanctions if Ukraine makes “suicidal” move to sign the agreements.

He said the restrictions imposed against Ukrainian exporters last week was a one-shot deal simply to test the new system that could be deployed later.

Moscow has been persistently encouraging Kiev to drop the EU agreements and instead to join the Customs Union, a Russia-led trade bloc that also includes Kazakhstan and Belarus.

The relief in trade problems with Russia comes following the negotiations between the countries’ customs services following a phone call between Azarov and Medvedev on Saturday.

Ukrainian opposition parties called on resorting to the World Trade Organization for official trade talks with Moscow in order to prevent the worst case scenario.

Azarov’s refusal to take the matter to the WTO suggests the problem would most likely reappear again later this year, perhaps at a larger scale, if Ukraine signs the agreements with the EU.

“I think it is very difficult to deal with an uncivilized government,” Leonid Kravchuk, a former Ukrainian president, said Tuesday. “Let Russia say whatever it wants from us. But they wouldn’t even say.”

Kravchuk said that Ukrainian companies should “sooner or later” find new markets for their goods in order to prevent reliance on Russia.

But he also suggested the Ukrainian government must keep balance in relations between the EU and Russia and try to prevent or minimize the impact of any trade restrictions that could be imposed. (tl/ez)