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As the Eastern Partnership Summit is approaching, discussions about the foreign political course of Ukraine and its relations with Russia and the European Union are intensifying. How will Kiev’s choice affect relations within the Russia – Ukraine – EU triangle? What is the future of the Eastern Partnership? We discussed these questions during the presentation of “Four Scenarios for Russia-Germany Relations” with Permanent Representative of Russia to the European Union and member of RIAC,
Vladimir Chizhov
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Vladimir Alekseevich,...
Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) is seen as one of the most important carrots for countries of the Eastern Partnership. Ukraine’s negotiations with the EU over the Association Agreement, which contains the DCFTA, were concluded at the turn of the year 2011. On the opposite shore stands the offer of Customs Union, consisting of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. In the ...
The Eastern Partnership programme is stalling, even though on February 25 officials from the EU and Ukraine reaffirmed their joint commitment to sign an Association Agreement in November. President Yanukovych, despite his repeated promises, is reluctant to carry out substantial reforms to Ukraine’s judicial and political systems. The EU, on the ...
... dividing lines”[3]. All in all, for Russia it would be very unwelcome step if Ukraine joined NATO.
Energy policies
Not less important red line is cooperation on energy policies. The Russian Federation is the biggest gas supplier to countries of the Eastern Partnership and essential partner of Ukraine regarding oil and nuclear fuel. The struggle in this field is especially for Ukraine, as it is quite crucial country for transit of Russian gas to the Central Europe and a huge trading partner. Ukraine is aware of its dependency on Russian natural ...
