ABSTRACT
This chapter presents that the Ukrainian case is being used to illustrate the nature of the economic dilemmas facing European countries in their efforts to balance relations with both sides. Although the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is not on the table anymore for Ukraine, given the conflictual situation from the past few years, a comparison of the two initiatives, Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (DCFTA) and EEU, is worth exercising to point out the economic difficulties Ukraine had and still faces. Given that Russia imposed restrictive trade measures on Ukraine and cancelled its Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Ukraine once the DCFTA went into effect in January 2016, how was and is Ukraine affected by the declined in economic relations with Russia? The chapter analyzes the role that each of the three parties, the EU, Russia and Ukraine, has played in explaining the Ukrainian deadlock situation from an economic perspective and what could be the steps forward.
