The Kremlin’s threats to break off relations with the European Union are nothing but hollow words. Moscow is not ready for such actions, since the EU remains Russia’s key economic partner in energy resources consumption. Russia’s dependence on the European energy market explains Moscow’s aggressive protection of the projects like Nord Stream-2. Therefore, the breach with the EU for the Kremlin will mean both decreasing its influence in Europe and losing foreign currency revenues as well.
The economic sanctions imposed by the US and the EU on Russia have proved their effectiveness. However, they turned out to be insufficient to accelerate the processes that will make Putin respect international law.
The Kremlin is afraid of toughen sanctions and expansion of groups of key export goods; introduction of more restrictions on technological imports to Russia, and impose of personal sanctions on individuals from the circles of the country’s political leaders.
During the visit of Josep Borrell’s, the EU foreign affairs chief, to Russia, the Kremlin defiantly declared three ambassadors of the EU member states persona non grata, accusing them of joining and supporting pro-Navalny protests. After the trip, the actions of the head of EU diplomacy faced a barrage of criticism from the European Parliament. Hilde Vautmans, Belgian MEP, said, ‘Mr. Borrell, do you know how to tame a bear? If you try once, you’d better get ready. Take a pot of honey and a large stick. Because only the bear feels that you do not control the situation, he attacks. If you are very lucky, he will only hurt you badly. The European Parliament gives you a yellow card. Let this humiliating experience be a lesson for you. We must agree on a clear strategy on how to engage with the Russian Federation’. Upon his return to Brussels, Josep Borrell admitted his mistake and stated about imposing new sanctions against Russia.
For a long time, we have been building on the fact that cooperation with Russia and reciprocal steps will stimulate Moscow to move towards democratization, peacefulness and acceptance of the values of the West. However, practically, the only result we could achieve is that this very policy has pushed Russia to perform the confrontational policy of the Soviet times, the Cold War. Such a policy is the most beneficial for Russia as it allows suppressing protests inside the country and explaining to its citizens the reason for such a low living standard having so significant natural resources. The Kremlin positions all Western countries as enemies, and this ‘hostile environment’ serves as a pretext for a constant struggle where the authorities empower and justify lawlessness and authoritarianism. This policy dates back to the middle ages when Moscow chose power inviolability and unlimited rule instead of the way of democratic development. Russia takes only strength and it is incapable of negotiating because negotiations are seen as weakness.