Russian President Vladimir Putin has slashed the cost of gas sold to Ukraine and agreed to buy billions of government bonds.<br /><br />The deal comes amid massive protests in the Ukraine over the government rejecting closer ties with the European Union in favour of a new alliance with Russia.<br /><br />Putin sealed the deal after talks in Moscow with his Ukrainian counterpart, Viktor Yanukovych.<br /><br />“We have all this work done to put Ukrainian economy and trade balance back to positive dynamic on the right track. And this underlines our strategic relations (with Russia).”<br /><br />The deal sees Russian state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom cutting the price of gas deliveries from January 2014.<br /><br />Putin also said Russia would buy nearly 11 billion euro of Ukraine’s government bonds.<br /><br />Protesters have been camped on Kyiv’s main square for nearly a month, angry at the prospect of being drawn back under the influence of the Kremlin.<br /><br />Opposition leaders had warned Yanukovich not to bother coming back to Ukraine if he “sells out” to Russia.<br /><br />The Russian President tried to ease concerns over the deal by saying the two leaders had not discussed the idea of Kiev joining a Kremlin-led free trade bloc.<br /><br />Hundreds of thousands took to the streets on Sunday in a huge rally dubbed the ‘day of dignity’, where they demanded the resignation of the government and called for European human rights.<br /><br />However, the country remains deeply divided between the European-leaning west and Russian-speaking east.
