Russia–European Union relations are the international relations between the European Union (EU) and Russia. Russia borders five EU member states: Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland; the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad is surrounded by EU members. Until the radical breakdown of relations following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU was Russia's largest trading partner and Russia had a significant role in the European energy sector. Due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, relations became very tense after the European Union imposed sanctions against Russia. Russia placed all member state of the European Union on a list of "unfriendly countries", along with Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the United States, NATO members (except Turkey), Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Micronesia and Ukraine.
The bilateral relations of individual EU member states and Russia vary, though a 1990s common foreign policy outline towards Russia was the first such EU foreign policy agreed. Furthermore, four 'EU–Russia Common Spaces' are agreed as a framework for establishing better relations. In 2015, a European Parliament resolution stated that Russia is no longer a strategic partner with the EU following the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas.
Relations between Russia and the EU became increasingly strained since the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas and the EU imposed several sanctions against the Russian Federation. The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine launched in 2022 has caused already tense EU-Russian diplomatic relations to break down: the EU sent military aid to Ukraine, Russian assets to the EU were frozen and direct flight from the EU to Russia were suspended. On 23 November 2022, the European Parliament passed a motion declaring Russia a state-sponsor of terrorism.
Background
This background is a snapshot of the way things were before the complete breakdown of bilateral relations in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The deterioration of relations is exemplified below in the Sanctions over Ukraine section.
Trade
The EU is Russia's largest trading partner, accounting for 52.3% of all foreign Russian trade in 2008 and 75% of foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks in Russia also come from the EU. The EU exported €105 billion of goods to Russia in 2008 and Russia exported €173.2 billion to the EU. 68.2% of Russian exports to the EU are accounted for by energy and fuel supplies. For details on other trade, see the table below:
Russia and the EU are both members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The EU and Russia are currently implementing the common spaces (see below) and negotiation to replace the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement to strengthen bilateral trade.
Energy
Russia has a significant role in the European energy sector as the largest exporter of oil and natural gas to the EU. In 2007, the EU imported from Russia 185 million tonnes of crude oil, which accounted for 32.6% of total oil imports, and 100.7 million tonnes of oil equivalent of natural gas, which accounted for 38.7% of total gas imports. A number of disputes in which Russia was using pipeline shutdowns in what was described as "tool for intimidation and blackmail" caused European Union to significantly increase efforts to diversify its energy sources.
During an anti-trust investigation initiated in 2011 against Gazprom a number of internal company documents were seized that documented a number of "abusive practices" in an attempt to "segment the internal [EU] market along national borders" and impose "unfair pricing". In August 2021 Russia has unexpectedly reduced volumes of gas sent to European Union, causing sudden gas price increases on the European market "to support its case in starting flows via Nord Stream 2". The next month, it announced that "rapid" start up of the newly completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline that has been for long contested by various EU countries would resolve the problems.
Kaliningrad
The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast has, since 2004, been surrounded on land by EU members. As a result, the oblast has been isolated from the rest of the federation due to stricter border controls that had to be brought in when Poland and Lithuania joined the EU and further tightened before they joined the Schengen Area. The new difficulties for Russians in Kaliningrad to reach the rest of Russia is a small source of tension.