The 17 December 2013 Russian–Ukrainian action plan was a de facto defunct[1][2] proposed agreement between the Russian President Vladimir Putin and former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych publicized on 17 December 2013 whereby Russia would buy $15 billion of Ukrainian eurobonds to be issued by Ukraine and that the cost of Russian natural gas supplied to Ukraine would be lowered to $268 per 1,000 cubic metres (the price was more than $400 at the time).

[6] The proposed agreement is de facto defunct since Russia has halted its purchase of the never issued eurobonds since the ousting of President Yanukovich of 22 February 2014 and in April 2014, the Russian natural gas discount was cancelled.

[8][nb 1] Ukrainian Industrial Policy Minister Mykhailo Korolenko stated on 18 December 2013 that because of this Ukraine's exported had dropped by $1.4 billion (or a 10% year-on-year decrease through the first 10 months of the year).

[25] The reason given for the (stop preparations for signing EU-agreement) decree was that the previous months Ukraine had experienced "a drop in industrial production and our relations with CIS countries".

[26] The government also assured "Ukraine will resume preparing the agreement when the drop in industrial production and our relations with CIS countries are compensated by the European market".

[35] Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych held the sixth "interstate consultation" on 17 December in Moscow.

[40] After the meeting, Yanukovych stated "We've prepared a joint action plan to resolve trade and economic restrictions, a so-called road map that will significantly improve performance in this area" and added this would benefit the entire sectors of the economies of the two countries.

[41] According to President Putin and Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov this deal was "not tied to any conditions" and Ukraine's possible accession to the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia was not addressed.

[42] According to President Yanukovych, the trade situation between Russia and Ukraine required urgent intervention, and that it should be coordinated with other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.

[58] The terms of the action plan included the condition that if Ukraine's total state debt would exceed 60% of its annual gross domestic product (GDP) Russian could demand early repayment.

[59] In response to the agreement, the opposition parties Batkivshchyna, UDAR and Svoboda immediately blocked parliament in order to defer its ratification since they quickly denounced the plan.

[60][61] On 17 December, opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko told the approximately 50,000 people Euromaidan-protest on Kyiv's Maidan Nezalezhnosti "He [President Yanukovich] has given up Ukraine's national interests, given up independence and prospects for a better life for every Ukrainian".

[18] The same day The Financial Times noted that the treaty could be bad for Gazprom, which was already planning to cut its overall investment in 2014, "With an additional burden from Ukraine, the state firm may be even less able to serve as a motor for Russia's sluggish economy".

[63] Furthermore, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stated Ukraine wasn't paying its natural gas bills even with the lower price, which "seriously changes the situation".

[63][64] Meanwhile, Serhiy Arbuzov (who had replaced Mykola Azarov as acting Ukrainian Prime Minister) believed Russia would be its second $2 billion tranche "in the nearest future".

[74] But on 9 January 2014, Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Eduard Stavytsky stated that Ukraine (at that time) will buy only Russian natural gas "because it's currently the most profitable".

[77][nb 5] On 9 January 2014, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov stated "at full capacity the program of industrial cooperation with Russia that will give us in the coming years hundreds of thousands of jobs and guarantees for budgets of all levels, which will be a financial base for the development of our domestic market".

[82] A government source suggested the customs war with Ukraine was a measure to pressure Ukrainian oligarchs into maintaining a pro-Russian policy vector.

[85] The day before Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski stated "I do not know any formal facts that should say that it is impossible to sign the association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union".