ALLE ORIGINI DEL CONFLITTO RUSSO-UCRAINO: LA POLITICA ESTERA DELLA FEDERAZIONE RUSSA (1991-2014)

As is well known, the transformations that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Yugoslavia, paved the way to the process of NATO eastward enlargement. Ukraine was also part of this process, having become independent in 1991, in the climate of euphoria that pushed the former socialist countries to apply for membership of NATO and the EU. Differently from the countries that joined the EU between 2004 and 2008, which received the support of Russia on the basis of the cooperation with both the US and NATO countries that had started since the early 1990s, in the case of Ukraine, issues arose that did not make it possible and that still underlie the current conflict situation between Moscow and Kiev .
In this context, this contribution - on the basis of existing literature – aims at examining some aspects and moments of the Russian Federation’s foreign policy from its establishment to the intervention in Crimea in 2014, with particular reference to relations with the West. The main objective is to provide some keys elements to clarify the reasons for this conflict and the role of the main actors involved, according to a historical perspective.