Moscow shifts to tougher economic relationship with Ukraine - PM

Pro-Russian rebels warm themselves up at the checkpoint outside of the town of Makiivka (Makeyevka) east of Donetsk December 14, 2014. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moving closer to the European Union offers no panacea for Ukraine's financial problems and will mean big losses in economic ties with Moscow, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an article published on Monday.

He said Moscow had for many years provided generous terms in deals with Kiev which had helped build up Ukraine's economy but the relationship would from now on be based on purely "rational and pragmatic" terms that put Russian interests first.