Russia and the European Union: main aspects of cooperation, contradictions and ways to overcome them

Abstract

Relations between the two prominent actors of modern international relations - the Russian Federation and the European Union- have been focused on the attention of the elite political representatives of the world community and the expert community over the past years. Analysing the history of formation and further cooperation between the Russian Federation and the EU shows that their relations were undulating and ambiguous. The progress achieved in relations was replaced by periods of cooling and sanctions and counter-sanctions, disputes in the WTO, etc. Nevertheless, despite the crisis in bilateral relations, the parties are preparing seven new practical cross-border cooperation programs for 2021-2027.

This article analyses the priority areas of cooperation between Russia and the European Union, identifying ways to resolve existing contradictions and identifying factors that negatively affect the development of relations.

The goal is to identify and analyse possible ways to resolve the existing contradictions in relations between Russia and the European Union in the constructive implementation of the fundamental agreements reached on comprehensive cooperation.

In analysing the problems posed, the authors applied several methods for studying international relations. In particular, quantitative content and event analysis methods, system analysis, and predictive methods.