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Ukraine’s prime minister said late Friday that his country’s snap decision not to pursue closer economic ties with Europe did not mean it would instead seek entry into the Moscow-led Customs Union trade bloc, RIA Novosti reported.

Ukraine’s government stunned European officials this week by announcing that it was suspending preparations for EU association agreements that had been due to be concluded in a matter of days in favor of reviving the relationship with Russia.

The move has been widely read as a victorious outcome for the Kremlin and its efforts to keep its former Soviet neighbor within its economic orbit.

Claims that Moscow had strong-armed Kiev into backing away from the EU deal appeared to gain additional credence after an aide to Lithuania’s head of state said Friday that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych had complained of Russia using trade embargoes as a form of pressure.

But Ukrainian Prime Minister Azarov dismissed those claims, saying the aide had liberally interpreted Yanukovych’s conversation with his Lithuanian counterpart.

“I don’t think that our president talked about [Russian blackmail]. I am 100 percent of that,” Azarov told Ukrainian television station Inter on Friday evening.

Azarov downplayed suggestions that mending long-strained links with Russia was a precursor to Ukraine entering the Customs Union, a fledgling economic bloc that currently also comprises Belarus and Kazakhstan.

“Since we decline to sign [the EU association agreement], it follows that we want to join the Customs Union. Who says?” Azarov said.

“Trade turnover grew significantly in 2012, but in 2013 we have lost nearly one-quarter of our trade turnover with CIS markets,” Azarov said. “Those economic losses are significant for us, and Ukraine has been facing serious [financial] hardships lately."