Andrei Zolotov

In the period following the crisis in and around Ukraine, both the Russian and the EU leadership announced that there should be no return to “business as usual” in the relations between the EU and Russia. However, little has been heard since on what kind of new structures and forms of cooperation are to be implemented to ensure constructive future dialogue between the two neighbors. To enable experts from Russia and the EU to formulate such new ideas in the coming months and years, Rossiiskaya Gazeta is planning to launch a new international project (working title: Russia Direct Europe), loosely modelled on the already existing www.russia-direct.org which focuses on relations between Russia and the US. Russia Direct Europe is intended to serve as one of the platforms for constructive dialogue and exchange between Russian and EU experts, including intellectuals, academics, journalists, and policy-makers. It is my task to determine which shape and form the project is to take, which potential partners to involve, and to identify potential contributors to this new online and offline expert publication.