NEWSWATCH Reuters: “EU’s Juncker dangles trade ties with Russia-led bloc to Putin”

Reuters covers European overtures to Russia to improve ties with a ceasefire in Ukraine.

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, suggesting closer trade ties between the 28-nation EU and a Russian-led economic bloc once a ceasefire is implemented in Ukraine. … written after a G20 summit in Turkey …

Russian aggression in Ukraine undermined their relationship with the West.

Russia seized Crimea militarily last year after pro-Moscow Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich was ousted by a popular uprising in favor of closer economic and political ties with the [EU] … [which has since] imposed successive waves of sanctions over the annexation of the Black Sea peninsula and support for separatist rebels in eastern Europe.

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