You did not read the article. The reason why the Ukrainian government did not sign the Association Agreement with the EU is because the loan terms were harsh, and the Russians simply offered a much better deal with very few strings attached. The EU offered $850 million in loans while the Russians offered $15 billion dollars in loans, and cheap gas. This is why Ukrainian leadership did not side with the EU. The IMF wanted 40% tariffs on natural gas, to cut government sending, and the whole 9 yards, including changing their own laws. Let me point out this awfully bad lie that Ukraine, as a sovereign country, would make a sovereign choice to join NATO and the EU; by joining NATO, you forfeit your own foreign policy for the US providing security. European foreign states in NATO and the EU do not have sovereignty. EU states are controlled by the EU, which has its office in Brussels. None of them have “sovereignty”. Sovereignty and democracy are not the motivating factors in staging a proxy war in Ukraine, it is through NATO, which the US exercises influence over the European states, and that is why principally, the conflict with Russia was spearheaded by the US, not France, or Germany. The UK being a prime exception.