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THE CRISIS IN UKRAINE AND RELATIONS BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND RUSSIA
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agreement with Russia in which the EU would
have much a greater voice and more compensa-
tions to offer than NATO.
The EU must provide Ukraine with financial
and technical aid firmly pegged to deep political
and structural reforms that will reduce corrup-
tion, modernise government operations, the
judiciary system and security forces, and trans-
form the country’s oligarchic and corporativist
economy.
The resolution of the Ukrainian conflict (even
if the Crimean question is put aside) should
serve as a springboard for renewing an EU–
Russia dialogue towards an ambitious successor
agreement to the Partnership and Cooperation
Agreement that guarantees oil and gas supplies
to the EU and serves as a forum for addressing
other issues of international importance, espe-
cially the fight against Jihadist terrorism and the
pursuit of stability in the Middle East.
During a speech delivered in Berlin in July
2008, Russian Federation president Medvedev
proposed a pan-European security treaty to in-
clude Russia and possibly even Central Asian
republics, but the EU turned a deaf ear. Once a
solution to the Ukrainian conflict has been
reached, the time may be ripe to consider the
possibility of including arrangements for com-
mon security in the new agreement with Russia.
At the 23 January session of the World
Economic Forum in Davos, Angela Merkel of-
fered to open negotiations between the
European Union and the Eurasian Economic
Union towards the creation of the free trade
area from “Lisbon to Vladivostok” that Vladimir
Putin had called for in 2010, if a resolution to
the Ukrainian crisis could be found. Such a pro-
ject would free Eastern Partnership countries
from the burden of “choosing camps” and cre-
ate a climate of confidence and cooperation
that could help prevent the outbreak of future
conflicts. The road towards such an agreement,
which will be long and difficult, begins in the
Donbass. Nonetheless, it must be travelled with
patience and firmness from the unwavering
perspective of EU unity, for the outcome could
prove to be tremendously positive in terms of
the peace and prosperity of all European coun-
tries, including Russia.