GENEVA, Sept 8 (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin hinted in remarks published Wednesday that Russia had warmed to the idea of Ukraine entering the European Union, but remained wary of its neighbour and former Soviet partner joining NATO.
"If Ukraine wants to go faster, we can even encourage them on this path" towards starting EU accession talks by 2011, Putin told the Swiss daily Le Temps.
He noted, however, that "Ukraine has 50 million inhabitants and it's not the Czech Republic," and cautioned: "It would be very expensive for the EU, which already has a lot to do without that."
During a visit to the Ukrainian resort of Yalta in July, Putin warned against Western "agents" trying to sabotage plans for regional economic integration between Russia and three former partners in the Soviet Union: Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
At the time, Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma responded by re-asserting the importance of relations with Moscow and appeared to distance himself from the idea of joining the EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
In his remarks to Le Temps, Putin acknowledged that NATO "is no longer a hostile organisation", but said "If Ukraine chooses to join, it would worry us anyway."
He said, however, that "if that was done in an intelligent, peaceful and level-headed way, why not, after all?"
Putin met with a group of western journalists in Moscow on Monday.