In supporting this aim, the European Union has provided assistance to Russia.

Europe certainly needs Russian gas. But Russia needs European consumers, and sooner rather than later it will seek more European investment in energy exploration and extraction.

Ukraine denies them, and both the United States and the European Union say Russia has provided no evidence.

What is becoming clearer by the day is that the formula defining Western policy towards Russia since communism s collapse Let s engage Russia if we can, let s contain Russia if we must must now be completely rethought. The West has largely failed to engage Russia either as a European or Western ally.

A second obstacle to sustained recovery is the eurozone s bad neighborhood. Russia is becoming more assertive and aggressive in Ukraine, the Baltics, and even the Balkans (while sanctions against Russia have hurt many European economies).

And when it comes to preserving national face, Russia and India are perhaps touchier than most countries Russia has always felt looked down upon by western European powers, and India is still reckoning with a legacy of colonial humiliation.

Let Russia Be Russia

Europe s leaders claim that they want to avoid giving Russia reason to escalate its war on Ukraine. But that is already happening, and Ukraine s fight against Russia is, after all, a defense of core European values and, indeed, of Europe itself.

Different European countries have reacted differently to the rise of a hostile Russia, influenced by their historical experience and their economic interests. Europe must resist the geopolitical challenge that Russia is posing, and it must be unified to have any chance of success.

The country has fully reconciled itself with America s strategic shift away from the European continent, even though Poles are as obsessively fearful of Russia as ever. And can one blame them, given that Russia seems more nostalgic for its imperial tradition than ever?

Russian membership in the World Trade Organization has the potential to strengthen the rule of law, combat corruption, and give Russia a stake in better relations with the outside world. Closer ties between Russia and the European Union make sense for similar reasons.

We tend to be less demanding of China than of Russia, because we tend to see Russia as European (at least culturally). As a result, the culture of physical violence and verbal provocation that is gaining ground in Putin s Russia is deeply disturbing, whereas we tend to judge Chinese misdeeds with a greater sense of distance, if not indifference.

Ukraine is one of the cornerstones on which the European order rests after the Cold War. Europe and Russia meet in Ukraine, and its fate will not only be a crucial factor in defining European security, but will also play a substantial role in future European Russian relations.

RIGA It should surprise no one that many in Latvia view the sale by France of fully equipped assault warships to Russia with grave concern. Other European Union member states seem to be looking increasingly towards Russia as a potential purchaser of military equipment.

That s the question Europe is asking about Russia, and Russia about a newly aggressive Europe. President Vladimir Putin s choice of Dmitri Medvedev, Chairman of Gazprom, the gas company with an emerging stranglehold on European energy supplies, only throws this question into an even starker light.

That s the question Europe is asking about Russia, and Russia about a newly aggressive Europe. President Vladimir Putin s choice of Dmitri Medvedev, Chairman of Gazprom, the gas company with an emerging stranglehold on European energy supplies, only throws this question into an even starker light.

Russia knows that when it comes to conducting a serious foreign and security policy, Europe is all mouth. Russia has pushed Europe around for years on energy issues, cutting bilateral deals with the bigger countries and opposing efforts to create a common European energy policy.

Lastly, I must not overlook the presence among us of representatives of the European Union, Russia, France, Italy, Germany, Japan and Brazil in response to our invitation.

That enemy, however, was also European first Germany, then Russia. In effect, the shared transatlantic geopolitical interest was between the US and one part of Europe against another.

The United States and the European Union have a combined GDP of about 34 trillion and a population of 822 million, with the US population growing rapidly. This means that the West can inflict much more damage on Russia than Russia can inflict on the West.

Of course, this approach presupposes two things that don t exist at the moment a common transatlantic approach to dealing with Russia, and a European Union that acts in much greater unison and is therefore stronger. Nonetheless, the challenge posed by Russia does not allow any further procrastination.

In the early 1990 s, many westerners and Russians wanted Russia to become a full fledged member of both the European Union and NATO, on the condition that Russia became a full fledged democracy. Unfortunately, the West never made that offer, and Russian democracy went astray.

Argentina has technically defaulted American and European financial institutions and markets are jittery and Russia is promising that the sanctions it faces will have no impact on its economy.

Nevertheless, the US and most European Union members argue that Kosovo s situation is sui generis and will set no legally binding international precedent. But Russia sees things very differently.

Western sanctions against Russia have certainly highlighted the seriousness with which the EU and the United States view Putin s efforts to challenge and undermine the core principles of European security and international law. But even a weakened Russia will still be a strong power in its immediate neighborhood.

After the Soviet Union s collapse, Russia, no longer a superpower, put its military spectacles on ice. But in 2005, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII, Putin held a major parade one that Western leaders, believing that Russia might have a European future, did attend.

At the diplomatic level, Europeans could threaten to deprive Russia of the prestige it draws from participating in G8 and EU Russia Summits. They should also aim to strengthen democracy and the rule of law in the European neighborhood by tightening relations with countries such as Georgia and Ukraine.

Russia quickly discovered that its threats against Ukraine were too costly to its reputation as a reliable supplier for Europe. When considered in this wider European context, there was more symmetry in the Russia Ukraine energy relationship than the simple numbers on energy dependence implied at first glance.

But why not think about transforming NATO into a real European security system, including Russia? The rules of the game would be changed and a whole variety of strategic goals could be achieved European security, neighborhood conflicts, energy security, arms reduction, anti proliferation, etc.

In 2016, the smart money will be on an East European candidate acceptable to the P 5, particularly Russia. How agreement on the candidate will be achieved is anyone s guess.

BERLIN With the crisis in Ukraine intensifying, the United States and the European Union are locked in a battle of wills and sanctions with Russia. Indeed, in retaliation for the intensification of Western financial sanctions, Russia has announced a ban on food and agricultural imports from the US and the EU.

Second, markets have taken the view that the Russia Ukraine conflict will remain contained, rather than escalating into a full scale war. So, though sanctions and counter sanctions between the West and Russia have increased, they are not causing significant economic and financial damage to the European Union or the US.

It has often been argued that Russia was reacting to the perceived encroachment on its near abroad by the European Union and NATO. But history suggests a simpler explanation A decade of steadily rising oil prices had emboldened Russia, leaving it ready to seize any opportunity to deploy its military power.

The statements come as Trump administration has been on a mission to boost the export of its liquefied natural gas to Europe, replacing Russia, the far cheaper option for European consumers.

For politicians like French President Nicolas Sarkozy, such considerations may be meaningless. But what if Turkey were to abandon its European ambitions and align itself strategically with Russia or even Iran?

In international affairs, Merkel is more skeptical about European enlargement, notably to include Turkey, than Schröder. Merkel, an East German by background, is also more cautious in her approach to Russia.

Above all, the European Union and its member states cannot allow Russia to recapture its imperial spheres of influence without severely damaging its own central interests. It is for this reason that securing the independence of Ukraine is so important, as is assuring Turkey s European orientation.

Unpredictable Russia

Russia, No.

It will not be easily repaired. This is important because a consistent European policy toward Russia one of the key urgent challenges facing Europe depends on close cooperation between Poland and Germany.

Some European countries can reduce their debt through continuous budget surpluses, as Bulgaria, Finland, Russia, and Sweden have done in the last decade. Privatization of public corporations and property is another possibility.

If Ukraine succeeds in its European choice, if it is able to make it work, it can settle the question that has bedeviled Russian culture for centuries Russia or the West? So the best way to help Russia today is to support Ukraine s claim that it belongs to Europe and its institutions.

And, with America bogged down in Iraq, Russian President Vladimir Putin has resurrected Soviet style bullying tactics. Would Russia otherwise have dared to threaten to re direct its nuclear missiles at European cities?

Estonia accused Russia.

Europe s Russia Problem