One of the major challenges between Europe and the United States is over the type of relations with Russia; after the end of the Cold War, the US and Europe somehow tried to distance from the former Russian president Boris Yeltsin’s era and assimilate Moscow. The main goal of Western governments was to contain and restrict Russia at its borders. However, with the coming to power of Vladimir Putin, the Western governments’ approach towards Russia and the approach of Russia to the West changed greatly, and the Russians took a very strong stance on NATO expansion, especially in the former Soviet republics such as Georgia and Ukraine.

This policy created a serious challenge between Europe and the United States on how to deal with Russia. Although Europeans have always been concerned about Russia and historically Moscow has been a threatening and incompatible partner for Europeans, but Europeans have realized that they cannot counter Moscow militarily and the only way is to use soft power and expand economic and political ties with Moscow. The Russians, meanwhile, have been making some serious efforts to counter the political and security influence of the US and its allies in the former Soviet republics.

But since Donald Trump came to power in the United States, tensions between the United States and the European Union over Russia have increased. Given the concerns that Eastern European governments had about Russia after the Ukraine crisis and always wanted to pursue a hostile policy with Russia, the leading and main governments in Europe, especially Germany and France, opposed this approach and instead sought peaceful ways to negotiate crisis management and détente with Russia.

This is a policy that is not pleasing to the United States, and so Washington is trying to spread its political and security umbrella in Eastern Europe by exaggerating the threats against Europe. The question of the missile shield the US was seeking to create against Russia in the Czech Republic and Poland, which was suspended under President Barack Obama, is being implemented in another form under Trump Administration.

On the other hand, economic issues and energy debate should not be ignored in this respect. Especially when Americans were able to join the oil and gas exporting countries in the world by using the shale oil, they tried to win new markets in Europe, but given that Russia is the EU’s largest supplier of oil and gas it is regarded a serious obstacle on the way of America.

For this reason, Washington raised the issue of boycotting one of the strategic pipelines between Russia and Europe, or the Nord Stream 2 which supplies Russian gas to Germany without crossing Ukraine and Poland via the Baltic Seabed. The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has led countries such as Ukraine and Poland, which have always tried to use this pipeline as a leverage against Russia, to no longer have such leverage.

That is why the Republicans in the White House and Congress are trying to boycott the Nord Stream gas pipeline and put Europeans and Russia under political and security pressure. The United States is also working to bring these countries closer together and expand its influence in Eastern Europe in the face of Russia.

Despite all the American pressures, Europeans are aware that Russia is their big neighbor and whether the US agrees or disagrees, they are not in a position to overlook their strategic neighbor although on certain occasions it could be a security threat for Europe.

Russia supplies more than 40% of Europe’s gas and oil, and although there are now different sources of energy where Europeans can supply their needs, they are still the least expensive and most reliable energy lines for Europe. European governments, therefore, are not expected to back down from their positions in maintaining and expanding ties with Moscow because of their strategic neighborhood with Russia.