The European Union will provoke fury in Moscow when it launches an unprecedented drive to forge a new pact with former Soviet states.
Ignoring Russian condemnation, EU ministers will effectively open up a third front in an escalating East-West row on Thursday by meeting ex-Soviet bloc leaders in Prague for two summits that could reduce Moscow's energy stranglehold over Europe and its political influence over neighbouring states.
Kremlin anger with the West has grown steadily in recent days, culminating with the formal expulsion on Wednesday of two Canadian diplomats assigned to the Nato mission in Moscow. The ejections came after Nato withdrew the accreditation of two Russian diplomats at its Brussels headquarters after accusing them of spying.
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My Comment: There is going to be blowback on this meeting .... what that blowback will be is anyone's guess.