Implementation of EU CFSP in Relation to Russia in the Context of Foreign Policy CRISIS 2014 - 2018

The study shows that the main factor that determines the contacts of the EU countries with Russia today is the conflict in Ukraine, which led to one of the most serious crises in the relations between the parties. The interests of the EU and Russia are seriously at odds with the situation in Ukraine. As a result of the annexation of Crimea to Russia, as well as the escalation of the situation in Eastern Ukraine, the European Union introduced a whole package of anti-Russian sanctions, which had a negative impact on the economic development of all countries. The political format of cooperation between the EU and Russia has also suffered. Thus, annual summits have not been held since 2014. But sanctions mechanisms against Russia are not supported by all EU member States. First of all, it is legitimate to talk about the States of Central and Eastern Europe, which is mainly due to their interest in further cooperation with Russia in the energy and military spheres, so they are trying to balance between Brussels and Moscow. The Russian side is also trying to use this in its own interests. The study shows that the EU's relations with Russia have become a certain test of the effectiveness of the created instruments of the PSB, namely, we are talking about current events around Ukraine. In this matter, the PSB has clearly fulfilled its missions, and today contributes to the settlement of the conflict on the territory of Ukraine. Despite the fact that not all countries want to support the regime of sanctions against Russia, however, as members of the EU they implement them. Thus, we can say that the USO helps the European Union to show its effectiveness as a collective actor in world politics and international relations.