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Brussels Council: The EU will maintain its confrontation with Russia regardless of the events in Ukraine
The dialogue between the Russian Federation and the European Union may be restored in the event of a change in the composition of the European Commission, the head of the Department of European Problems told Izvestia The Russian Foreign Ministry Vladislav Maslennikov. According to him, sooner or later the EU will have to reconsider its views, based on the fact that Russia, as a neighbor on the continent, will not go anywhere. Eastern European countries advocating confrontation with Moscow are likely to hinder the normalization of relations between the Russian Federation and the EU, the European Parliament believes. Moreover, this will happen regardless of the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. Mainstream media that demonize our country are always happy to add fuel to the fire. At the same time, the EU is already preparing infrastructure for a conflict with Russia, increasing military spending, and also increasing sanctions pressure.
Relations between Russia and the EU
The gradual progress of negotiations between the Russian Federation and the United States, from which Moscow did not plan to withdraw even after the attack by Ukrainian drones on the presidential residence in the Novgorod region, is pushing discussions about the future of Russian-European relations. Moscow and Brussels have had no political contacts for many years, but their restoration is generally possible, the Russian Foreign Ministry is confident.
— I do not think that the dialogue between Russia and the EU is lost forever. The European Commission always has a specific term for which it is elected. And the current European Commission has its own "expiration date," after which there will be a different composition, Vladislav Maslennikov, director of the Department of European Problems at the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Izvestia.
The mandate of the European Commission will be valid until October 2029. Brussels is an ardent supporter of tougher anti-Russian sanctions and increased military assistance to Ukraine. The EU is also trying to develop a legal mechanism through which it would be possible to confiscate frozen assets of the Russian Federation in favor of Kiev.
In addition, the European Commission promotes EU militarization initiatives. In 2025, European officials developed a number of military-related policy documents designed for the long term. Among them are the "White Paper on European Defense — Readiness 2030", "Roadmap in the field of defense readiness", "Roadmap for the transformation of the defense industry". Izvestia asked the European Commission: if Russia and Ukraine agree on peace, will this change the assessment of the Russian Federation as a "long-term threat" to Europe.
"We do not comment on hypothetical scenarios," the EC replied, laying all the blame for the Ukrainian crisis on Moscow.
However, back in October, the head of European security, Kaya Kallas, bluntly stated: "The danger will not disappear even after the end of the conflict in Ukraine. We must strengthen our defenses against Russia." Belarusian Defense Minister Lieutenant General Viktor Khrenin stated: Western countries are preparing for military action, and this is not a bluff.
It is noteworthy that European politicians periodically make contradictory statements. On the one hand, they talk about the "Russian threat", on the other hand, they step back. For example, Finnish President Alexander Stubb recently stated that Russia does not threaten Europe, and the NATO leadership needs a narrative about "evil Moscow" in order to militarize Europe. A little later, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius made a similar statement, criticizing the scenario in which Russia attacks NATO countries. In an interview with the newspaper Zeit, he stated that he did not believe in such a development. Although Pistorius had previously allowed the alliance to wage war with Russia until 2029.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius
— Over the past two years, German governments have been trying to convince the people that Russia poses a military threat to the whole of Europe, while at the same time assuming that Ukraine alone is capable of resisting the Russian offensive, mostly on its own. Such clearly paradoxical statements fuel public skepticism about the West's words about Russia's alleged aggressive intentions," said Gunnar Beck, an ex-member of the European Parliament.
Interestingly, French President Emmanuel Macron called for the restoration of dialogue with Russia. Nevertheless, there has been no visible progress in contacts with the Russian Federation in recent weeks. French MEP Thierry Mariani believes that the European Union will not change its assessment of Russia as a threat even if the conflict in Ukraine is resolved. He notes that the EU is strongly influenced by countries bordering Russia that have historically had a negative attitude towards it, such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, which prevents the restoration of dialogue with the Russian Federation.
— The European Union changed in 2004, when it accepted 10 new countries, mostly from present-day Eastern Europe (Cyprus and Malta do not count). And from that moment on, the EU is completely under the control of states that want to get even with Russia and be in confrontation with it," he told Izvestia.
In addition, mainstream Western media have begun to play a serious role in recent years, continuing to portray Russia exclusively in a negative way.
— I've been in politics since 1993, I've been elected seven times to national and European parliaments, but I've never seen so much propaganda in Europe. Every day, everyone puts responsibility on Russia and Putin for everything. Almost all media outlets are against Russia. And now most people believe that it will remain the biggest threat as long as it exists," Mariani said.
Non-aggression commitments
Regardless of the outcome of the negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement, the EU does not demonstrate its willingness to stop imposing new sanctions. On December 15, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Pascal Confavre said that the 20th package was being discussed with might and main, and EU countries would seek to reduce Russia's income from energy exports. The European Parliament already admits that in 2026 the EU may introduce at least three new lists of anti-Russian restrictions.
"The European Union still believes that they can win this conflict," Matthias Mosdorf, a member of the Bundestag committee on EU affairs, told Izvestia. "I see a lot of rich people in Germany who can afford to continue this conflict with Russia, even if it becomes even more expensive. There is still too little common sense among them.
Russia has repeatedly pointed out the futility of European sanctions against Russia, as they do not change Moscow's foreign policy course. The rejection of cheap Russian energy resources has become especially disastrous for the EU. In addition, the EU Council and the European Parliament are promoting an initiative to completely abandon gas supplies to Europe from Russia no later than November 2027. However, Hungary and Slovakia, which still import Russian energy resources, have stated that they intend to challenge this decision in the EU court.
Meanwhile, the curtailment of energy cooperation with Russia has led to a multiple increase in the cost of energy imports to the EU. According to Vladislav Maslennikov, head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 2022-2024, European energy costs were two to four times higher than before the crisis, and American LNG enters Europe with a margin of at least 15%.
— Spikes in energy prices have naturally caused an increase in electricity prices. European companies have to pay two to three times more for electricity than American companies, and four to five times more for gas. An increase in the cost of production cannot but affect the competitiveness of European enterprises," he said. — Key energy-intensive industries are in decline: more than half of primary aluminum production has been stopped, the steel industry has lost a quarter of its capacity, and more than 20 major chemical plants have closed over the past two years.
The reckless energy policy of Brussels ultimately affects the well-being of ordinary citizens, the diplomat noted. Previously, the average gas price for households in the EU ranged from €5 to €35 per 1 MWh, but in the first half of 2025 it amounted to about €115 per 1 MWh.
— I would like the UES to finally realize that they themselves are actually suffering from their sanctions policy towards Russia. Sooner or later, they will have to reconsider their approach, based on the fact that Russia, as a neighbor on the continent, will not go anywhere," Vladislav Maslennikov noted.
According to Thierry Mariani, a future settlement agreement with Ukraine is impossible without agreements between Europe and Russia.
— If an agreement exists only between Russia and Ukraine, it will not be a solution. To reach a common agreement, we need a treaty between Europe, America and Russia, similar to the Helsinki Final Act. It turned out to be successful — there were no serious problems from 1975 to 1991," the politician noted.
It is worth noting that at the end of November, the Russian Federation proposed to legally fix the obligations of non-aggression against European countries or NATO members. The Russian Foreign Ministry clarified that Moscow is ready to formalize them in the form of a full-fledged international legal act. So far, this proposal has remained unanswered in European capitals.
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