Ukraine between Russia and the European Union: Triangle Revisited

Abstract

Ukraine has long been considered as a bone of contention between the EU and Russia which could eventually lead to a geographical split of the country. This interpretation, however, fails to explain the dynamic of the Ukrainian revolution and Russian–Ukrainian war. To address the deadlock in understanding the mixed dynamics of the situation in Ukraine, the article argues that the relations in the EU–Ukraine–Russia triangle are affected by the combination of choices that the Ukrainian political class, business elites and broader society make in four major dimensions: internal political practices; economic dimension; a dimension of international politics; and an ideological dimension.

Notes

¹ The EU–Ukraine Association Agreement was offered by the EU to Ukraine to replace the old Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. With the provisions for a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, the Association Agreement stipulated progressive removal of customs tariffs and quotas in bilateral trade, harmonisation of laws and accession of Ukraine to various EU-funded programmes.

² The first rallies organised by the Ukrainian pro-European activists proclaimed the goal, not to oppose but to support President Viktor Yanukovich to sign the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement. They were therefore called Euromaidan. See ‘Evromaidan v Kieve: Deni pervyi’, Liga.net, 22 November 2013, available at: http://news.liga.net/articles/politics/927589-nochnaya_khronika_evromaydan_den_pervyy.htm, accessed 15 August 2015. The first twitter account reporting the developments in the Ukrainian Independence Square was named Euromaidan, available at: https://twitter.com/euromaidan, accessed 15 August 2015. The pro-European symbols were quickly ‘commodified’ by local artists and entrepreneurs (Trach 2013).

³ Maidan (Market or Central Square) is widely used to connote the Orange Revolution protests which took place in the Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square in Kyiv). The fact that subsequent protests of 2010, 2011 were also named ‘maidans’ demonstrates the significance that Ukrainians attach to these events.

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⁹ Interview with a member of the Ukrainian Parliament and member of the Political Council of the Party of the Regions, 20 March 2012, Kyiv.

¹⁰ The ‘cheese war’ was the period of embargo on the import of Ukrainian dairy products imposed by Russia in early 2012. Most noticeable of the banned goods were popular brands of Ukrainian cheese.

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¹⁶ EUBAM—the EU Border Assistance Mission to the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine—was established in response to the invitation of the two countries, calling for additional EU support for better border control. The mission was deployed on the whole Moldova–Ukraine border, including the border between Ukraine and the pro-Russian breakaway republic of Transnistria because the Moldovan border authorities were unable to be present there.

¹⁷ Interview with a 2nd Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, 11 June 2012, Kyiv.

¹⁸ SALIS—Strategic Airlift Interim Solution.

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²⁹ ‘Promova Prezydenta Petra Poroshenko na inavguratsii’, TSN, 7 June 2014, available at: http://tsn.ua/politika/promova-prezidenta-ukrayini-petra-poroshenka-na-inavnuraciyi-povniy-tekst-353552.html, accessed 17 August 2015.