The European Union is likely to change its approach to handling Russia when its heads of state meet next month, analysts say, as support for economic sanctions wanes among its members and there is recognition that the peace process between Russia and Ukraine is not delivering.
Mujtaba Rahman, Cliff Kupchan and Alex Bridau from risk consultancy Eurasia Group said in a note Sept. 19 that next month’s meeting of the European Council would “signal the beginning of the end of (the) Minsk process” – a fragile ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine brokered by France and Germany’s leaders in 2014 and 2015 in a bid to stop an escalation of border violence between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces.
