ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of economic relations between the EU and Russia, starting from trade and investment. It then examines the repeated attempts at solidifying and institutionalising these relations with a view to arriving at an eventual free trade area. The chapter then discusses the impact of mutual sanctions imposed by the EU and Russia over the Ukrainian conflict and the economic relations between the two increasingly alienated strategic partners before ending with some concluding remarks. It highlights the dual problems of close interdependence and the growing contestation concerning the 'rules of the road' for managing those relations and consequent interdependence. The use of economic incentives in modifying other countries' preferences is a well-established practice in international politics. The end-result is the current state of affairs, whereby instead of creating positive interdependence and synergies, economic relations, and perhaps particularly trade in energy, have become one of the toughest bones of contention between the EU and Russia.
