Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich (L) gives a wink to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during a signing ceremony after a meeting of the Russian-Ukrainian Interstate Commission at the Kremlin in Moscow, December 17, 2013.
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russia had to act to help its "brotherly" neighbour Ukraine out of economic crisis and that Moscow did not oppose Kiev signing a trade pact with Europe as long as it did not harm Russia's economy.
"Now we see that Ukraine is in difficult straits ... if we really say that they are a brotherly nation and people then we must act like close relatives and help this nation," Putin said in an annual news conference.
© Thomson Reuters 2013