Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Friday, during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, that Moscow is not against Ukraine's accession to the European Union as "this is not a military bloc," News.az reports citing TASS.

Putin said that whether or not Ukraine becoming a part of the EU would be beneficial to the country is "the business of Ukrainians and the Ukrainian authorities."

Nevertheless, the head of Russia noted that Ukraine might turn into a "semi-colony of the EU" as the former's economy would "require a lot of subsidies."