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Marie Mendras, Senior Fellow, Transatlantic Academy, German Marshall Fund (Washington, D.C) and Professor at the Paris School of International Affairs, explains the change in the EU relations with Russia and Ukraine in video blog for the IWP.It’s now been 2 years since Russia annexed Crimea and so far the Ukrainian government has been doing pretty well in keeping the country afloat. Things are not easy, it’s clear that Donbas is not pacified, that Russian militaries are still there but the Ukrainian government is working.
And I guess for European governments and for the European Union what the most important now is to see new political and economic resolve here in Kyiv, to engage more actively with state reforms and economic reforms.
The most important of all is the reform of courts because we know that in every possible example of democratic transition the quality and independence of courts are the most important factors. We understand it’s not easy because of the situation in Crimea and in Eastern Donbas. But Western countries and international organizations want to see the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian state developed and prosperous and there will continue to be strong support for Ukraine. I don’t believe that the EU will ease sanctions against Russian authorities because nothing has changed in the Russian posture towards Ukraine.
What we see also in is that in those 2 years since the new government came to power in Kyiv, Ukraine has become a very central issue in European security and European development but also that Ukraine has become central. Ukraine today is a big state at the center of the European continent. And it will be absolutely crucial in future relations between Russia and Europe. And what we hope for in France certainly is that Ukraine will develop in the fashion that will make it possible in future years to engage in partnership with Russia.

That is the big change now – we in Europe understand that Ukraine is not an obstacle in establishing good relations with Russia, but just the opposite, that if we can’t have a good partnership with Ukraine eventually that would be helpful in re-engaging with Russian authorities, Russian business community and Russian society. So, Ukraine is not the wall between us and Russia, is just the opposite, but it will just take time.

To watch the video blog, please, click here.

The visit of Maria Mendras to Ukraine was organized within IWP project “Study Visits of Foreign Experts to Kyiv to Dispel the Myths about Ukraine in the European Union.” This initiative is conducted within the “Initiative for Development of Ukrainian Think Tanks” project, implemented by International Renaissance Foundation (IRF) in cooperation with the Think Tank Fund (TTF), with the financial support of the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine (SIDA).