Russia has no objections to Ukraine becoming a member of the European Union, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a conference on Friday. “We have nothing against it. It is the sovereign decision of each country to join or not join economic alliances,” Putin told the International Economic Forum in St Petersburg. “The EU, unlike NATO, is not a military organization, not a political bloc,” Putin said. Whether Ukraine’s membership was in the EU’s best interests was for it to decide, he added. But Ukraine’s economic structure is such that it will need very large subsidies, he added.