Restoring dialogue as it drifts away - The EU-Russia Civil Society Forum initiative at the nadir of EU-Russia dialogue

The abrupt developments in Ukraine constitute one of the most serious geopolitical crisis in the European continent since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The escalation of confrontations has emphasised the tensioned relationships between the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) with the Russian Federation, since Putin’s third presidential term.
While diverging approaches and assertive stances are ditching progresses in the EU-Russia official dialogue, the conflict provokes reactive responses within societies either calling for prompt peaceful resolution or arousing sentiments of hostility, enmity and friction often rooted in old stereotypes. Along with institutional and governmental actors, civil society is called upon to cooperate in endeavours of de-escalation and in promotion of mutual understanding. At the nadir of EU-Russia relations, a case in point is the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum, a bottom-up initiative to which this paper devotes a thorough analysis from its genesis to the consistent potential.