Putin’s Post-Soviet Union

The Quiet Anniversary of Moscow’s “Eurasian Economic Union”

It’s been a busy week in Moscow. The week began with Putin’s fifth inauguration after yet-another crooked election. The Russian government announced new drills involving tactical nuclear weapons and later threatened France that any French troops in Ukraine will be considered valid military targets. The week closed with the annual May 9th Victory Day parade featuring a single T-34 tank for the second year in a row (but more on that later).

This week also marked the ten-year anniversary of the founding of an often overlooked element of Russian foreign policy - the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Once considered the centerpiece of Russian foreign policy during Putin’s third term, the Eurasian Economic Union has quietly faded into obscurity among the wider collection of Russian-led regional groupings. Putin’s failure to secure Ukrainian membership in the EAEU under the corrupt Yanukovych regime not only killed the project, it also played a major role in the prelude to Euromaidan and the 2014 Revolution of Dignity.