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Ongoing dramatic events and unpredictable dynamics in Ukraine have exposed the multifaceted complexity of the common EU-Russia neighbourhood. After the EuroMaidan Revolution all regional actors had to re-think their interests, approaches and strategies to achieve national aspirations. Despite the high uncertainty and fluidity of current developments make any predictions impossible, this Study aims to cast light on some critical aspects of the present situation and on the impact the involved players have on the future of the region. In particular, it examines the EU perspective and perceptions of the Ukrainian crisis and of the strength of Russia's factor in regional affairs. Russia has become the intervening variable in EU-Eastern Partner countries' relations as well as the common target of the joint EU-US efforts to contrast its regional policies. In this framework, the much debated economic / geopolitical gains and losses of joining the EU or Russia-led
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Customs Union are compared and explained in detail. A specific focus is then dedicated to Ukraine after the annexation of Crimea by Moscow and its undergoing profound political changes and challenges. Identity issues and regional dynamics in Ukraine appear to be once again at the heart of its domestic politics as well as its geopolitical orientation. Ukraine's diversity and pluralistic society, coupled with the unifying effect of the Maidan protests on its state-building agenda, may become the best safeguard against the centralisation of power
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by another autocrat. Finally, the lately ignored case of Belarus is illustrated as another evidence of the weakness of the EU's Eastern neighbourhood policy. Belarus remains a problematic partner for the EU and rejects the European way of transformation. This creates serious obstacles for applying the EU "more for more" principle as a real tool for change. All these considerations stimulate a process of re-thinking of the EU regional policies and of the future EU-Russia (or even Russia-West) relations.
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