Why the EU got the Ukrainian crisis wrong
The recent EU brokered deal to boost Ukrainian free trade sparked a deepening Ukrainian crisis. The agreement was rejected, Crimea annexed, and a passenger flight shot down and military intervention ensued. EU attempts to place Ukraine in a free market with European identity instead resulted in a destabilised Ukraine in the wake of a separatist uprising, sanctions and damaged relations between Russia and the West. Should the EU have foreseen Russia’s views on an EU-Ukrainian deal as a threat to post-Soviet security? Robertshaw’s research in Global Affairs