The agenda of their relations should be practical and ignore the strategic issues of the Greater Europe. Russia and the EU are faced with numerous challenges of internal and non-European origin, which, leaving things to take their own course, are fraught with a sharp deterioration of the security and economic situation and require effective cooperation between Russia, the European Union and individual EU member states.
The Paper analyzes the nature of the current impasse in the EU-Russia relations and proves why in the next few years it is impossible to work out a strategic path, which could be shared by both parties. The author analyzes in detail the challenges Russia and the EU are facing in Europe and beyond and considers the desired contours of the interaction between the parties on such issues as the European security and the Middle East. He also proves why Russia is interested in a strong EU.
About the author:
Dmitry Suslov is Programme Director of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, Deputy Director of the Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the National Research University – Higher School of Economics, Russia