When Russia realized that Yanukovych was considering signing the association agreement with Brussels, President Vladimir Putin made sure to make it clear what Moscow's reaction would be. Putin's gambit ultimately worked and Yanukovych backed away from the deal. DPA/ RIA Novosti
Summit of Failure: How The EU Lost Russia Over Ukraine -- Spiegel Online
One year ago, negotations over a Ukraine association agreement with the European Union collapsed. The result has been a standoff with Russia and war in the Donbass. It was an historical failure, and one that German Chancellor Angela Merkel contributed to.
Only six meters separated German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych as they sat across from each other in the festively adorned knight's hall of the former Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. In truth, though, they were worlds apart.
Yanukovych had just spoken. In meandering sentences, he tried to explain why the European Union's Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius was more useful than it might have appeared at that moment, why it made sense to continue negotiating and how he would remain engaged in efforts towards a common future, just as he had previously been. "We need several billion euros in aid very quickly," Yanukovych said.
Read more ....
My Comment: This is an excellent summary of events prior to the revolution that brought Ukraine and EU - Russian relations to where we are today. For those who are following the Ukrainian civil war, this is a must read.
The paragraph in this post that caught my eye on why we have the crisis that we have today is the following ....
.... Russia and Europe talked past each other and misunderstood one another. It was a clash of two different foreign policy cultures: A Western approach that focused on treaties and the precise wording of the paragraphs therein; and the Eastern approach in which status and symbols are more important.
Indeed.
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