EU warns Russia over punishing Ukraine The EU issued a sharp warning to Russia on Tuesday not to punish Ukraine with unilateral and discriminatory trade restrictions in retaliation for the former Soviet republic's efforts to forge closer economic ties with the 28-member bloc. In a statement, EU trade spokesperson John Clancy said Brussels "questions the grounds for Russia to restrict Ukrainian exports." He added: "In the view of the EU any economic threat from Russia directed against Ukraine and linked to the country's possible signature of the association agreement with the EU is unacceptable." Kiev said later on Tuesday Moscow had agreed to drop tightened and costly customs checks introduced last week on its exports, raising hopes a stand-off that threatened to escalate into a trade war might be defused. "The Russian side assured [us] that as of today, additional customs control procedures do not apply," Ukraine's government said late on Tuesday. Moscow declined to comment. Ukrainian companies last week accused Russian customs officials of paralysing their imports through customs checks that threatened to run up billions of dollars in losses. The extraordinary border checks were regarded as an attempt to bully Kiev into joining a Moscow-led customs union comprised of former Soviet republics instead. On Sunday, Russian president Vladimir Putin's adviser on developing the trade union, Sergei Glazyev, said: "We are preparing to tighten customs procedures if suddenly Ukraine makes this suicidal step of signing the EU association agreement." With Ukraine's trade split between Russia, the EU and other markets, economists warned that such sweeping trade hurdles would have damaged the country's economy, hampering efforts to crawl out of a second recession in five years. Viktor Yanukovich, Kiev's president, has sought to open markets for his country while preserving economic ties with Russia and other former Soviet republics. But the geopolitical tug-of-war over Kiev has complicated his balancing act between east and west. Eyeing its vast consumer market and natural resources, Brussels is keen for closer integration with Kiev. But it has grown frustrated with backsliding on democracy under Mr Yanukovich's rule, epitomised by the jailing of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko. The EU is also irked by Kiev's adherence to protectionist economic policies. The Russia-Ukraine row is being closely watched, with EU and US officials calling upon both sides to settle their differences within the World Trade Organisation. Mr Clancy said the EU expected its "trade concerns with both Russia and the Ukraine" to be solved swiftly and in the "spirit" of WTO commitments.