Until 24 February 2022, the EU in practice dealt with Ukraine as a buffer state: an independent state that should maintain constructive relations with both Russia and the Union. That was the purpose of the EU-mediated Minsk Agreements, after the first invasion in 2014. The EU certainly did not see Ukraine as a potential Member State. Though by signing an Association Agreement in spite of the invasion, the EU did, wittingly or unwittingly, commit to Ukraine’s survival no matter what the future would bring.
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