> That's not true, Russian Federation did "participate in European initiatives".

Nowhere near the level of those did who eventually joined the EU (or even EFTA). Even preparing for accession was a major effort that required incredible amount of work to harmonize legislation and actual practices with European standards. We had very little money at the time and severe shortage of people who understood these things. Everything from stock market rules to patient data protection at medical facilities needed a total overhaul. When comparing this with Russia at the same time, it is very clear that while the idea of European integration was floated from time to time, it was never a serious goal with a full national effort behind it. This is what I meant when I said you never made the step.

In the last 30 years, Russia could've easily become a full member of the EU as did almost the entire Eastern Europe. Or if that was too much, then at least join the Schengen Area and European Free Trade Association and peacefully sell oil like Norwegians for good money and let pensioners spend that warming their bones on Mediterranean beaches instead of suffering through cold and dark winters while worrying if their grandchildren return from the war alive. Yesterday I saw statistics that adjusted wealth for the cost of living. In the span of a single lifetime, Norwegians have risen from poor farmers and fishers to the richest people on the planet. This could've been you. The suffering in the 1990s would've had a meaning then as a stepping stone towards much better future, as it's viewed in Central and Eastern Europe.

> It would be interesting to read Kozyrev directly if you've got a link, though.

He wrote a book on that: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0822945924

> Russia was widely open up to the world up and until 2014. It's more open to the world today that you care to admit.

According to V-Dem indicies, which attempt to quantify the rule of law, civil liberties, fairness and freedom of elections, wide representation of interests (instead of narrow groups), and equal access to resources across various groups within a society, Russia was already at the bottom of global ranking in 2013. The way Medvedev was used to keep the seat warm for Putin's another term and protesters were treated in 2011-2013 leaves no doubt how and by whom Russia was run. Certainly not by the people for the people under rules that are equal for all.

See the table on page 58 and 1973-2023 time series on page 60: https://www.v-dem.net/documents/43/v-dem_dr2024_lowres.pdf

> That's false, it was never open. Just take a look what Turkey is doing now. They've spent decades on reading EU's cucumber party regulations and now they've got semi-dictatorship and no longer admissible because they frankly gave up some time around 2015.

When it comes to Turkey, negotiations were always bound to become long and difficult due to unresolved issues around the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the Kurdish-Turkish conflict, radical muslims in rural Turkey, and a long list of other difficult subjects. There is a fair bit more to chew on than only cucumbers.

Turkey's negotiations for joining the EU began in 2005. V-Dem shows Turkey gradually slipping into authoritarianism after 2008. Negotiations slowed down, stalled in 2016 after the coup attempt in Turkey, and were officially suspended in 2019. I think it is fair when the EU says that political instability and broken economy with 75% inflation rate makes Turkey a poor candidate at the moment. For Eastern Europe too, the main obstacles were economic and political stability criterias.

Last year, main Turkish opposition parties who represent 48% of the electorate reiterated intent to continue working towards European integration. Turkey and Europe have little to lose and a lot to win from seeing Turkey recover and become a stable and prosperous country. The same applies to the relationship with Russia, but with every passing day, you are walking away from Europe, into the loving embrace of the Chinese. When the US and Europe - each a far larger economy than the Russian - are worried about becoming too dependant on China, where does it leave you with barely a tenth of theirs?