Legal and Political Relations between the EU, Ukraine and Russia

The current Ukrainian crisis seems to highlight the complexity, ambiguity and contradictions of the legal and political relations between the EU, Ukraine and Russia. Following the proclamation of independence of the Crimea and its accession to Russia, and in the presence of the conflict between the Kyiv Government and the self-proclaimed Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, the issue of the EU relations with Ukraine and Russia has become one of the hottest political issues at a global level. Brussels, Kyiv and Moscow are not united by trilateral agreements. Russia is the EU's largest neighbour and its third biggest trading partner. In 1991 the EU and Russia stipulated a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA); in 2003 they agreed to reinforce their cooperation by creating in the long term four 'common spaces': economic, covering also the environment; freedom, security and justice; external security, including crisis management and non-proliferation; research and education. This, however, doesn't reflect the increasing breadth of the EU - Russia relations since the early 1990's. Negotiations on a new agreement providing for a more comprehensive framework were launched in 2008, but the dialogue between the two Parties has been made difficult by the critical attitude of the EU on the state of democracy in Russia and the differences of opinion on regional security. Ukraine is a priority partner in the framework of the EU Eastern Partnership, considered by Russia as an EU attempt to expand its "sphere of influence". An innovative Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine, negotiated between 2007 and 2012, is at the origin of the current crisis: ... (omissis) ...