The European Commission on Friday recommended that Ukraine and Moldova should be given candidate membership of the European Union. Russia says it has no objection to this. “It is not a military bloc. It is the right of every country to join economic unions,” Russian President Putin said during a speech at Russia’s annual economic forum in St. Petersburg on Friday. Putin also said his country was not affected by Western sanctions, which he called “insane” and “ill-considered”. Follow all developments around the conflict in Ukraine in our live blog.
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