kraine is still welcome but not obliged to work with Russia on its post-Soviet Customs Union, seen as a potential counterweight to the European Union, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. "We are not imposing anything on anyone, but if our (Ukrainian) friends want joint work (on the Customs Union) we are ready for a continuation of that work at expert level," said Putin in his annual address to the nation as pro-EU protests raged in Ukraine. “Our integration project is based on equal rights, on real economic interests.”