So have russia to be member of both nato and eu. Preferrably without any third power threatening both west and russia so much that they need to cooperate.
So have russia to be member of both nato and eu. Preferrably without any third power threatening both west and russia so much that they need to cooperate.
The problem (for EU) is that Russia would be such a huge weight that it wont be a European union anymore but a Russian union
Counting the UK, Russia would be the fifth country in the EU by GDP (nominal), which is what matters.The problem (for EU) is that Russia would be such a huge weight that it wont be a European union anymore but a Russian union
sure.. there are always threats to counter.Isn't NATO designed specifically to counter Russia? I mean if Russia is integrated into the EU, is there a need for NATO?
The problem is not with Putin. You could have Russia ruled by the most liberal democrat imaginable who considered maintaining good relations with the EU and NATO their highest priority and neither NATO or EU would ever want to admit Russia. The former because it would make NATO superfluous and the later because the leading members of the EU would never want the loss of influence that would be the result of Russia joining the EU.You'd need to somehow butterfly Putin and have someone more democratic and pro-western succeed Boris Yeltsin as the leader of the Russian Federation. Personally, I'd suggest either Boris Nemtsov or Mikhail Kasyanov, as they both later became involved with a political party which is currently an associate of Alliance Of Liberal Democrats of Europe.
The problem is not with Putin. You could have Russia ruled by the most liberal democrat imaginable who considered maintaining good relations with the EU and NATO their highest priority and neither NATO or EU would ever want to admit Russia. The former because it would make NATO superfluous and the later because the leading members of the EU would never want the loss of influence that would be the result of Russia joining the EU.