The European Union is expected to announce soon whether it will expand its economic sanctions against Russia. It first imposed sanctions in March 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea; they were expanded a few months later after Russia destabilized eastern Ukraine and following the destruction of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 by a Russian-made missile over territory controlled by Russia-led forces in eastern Ukraine. The sanctions reveal that E.U.-Russia relations are at their lowest point since the Cold War.
It hasn’t always been this way. As an article of mine published earlier this year shows, Russia saw itself as part of Europe at the turn of the millennium. It aspired to closer integration with the E.U. But over the past 18 years, the Kremlin has gradually turned its back on the West — and now sees the E.U. as an aggressor in a new Cold War. This happened in three distinct phases.
