Rather than even considering membership in the European Union, Russia would view it as a sort of surrender, Putin is forging his Eurasian Economic Union instead. It so far consists of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia. The European Union is somewhat decentralized. Germany and France have a lot of influence in decision-making, but no single nation dictates to everyone else. The Eurasian Economic Union, though, has Moscow in the cockpit with everyone else as junior partners or, as Kennan would have put it, vassals.

Moscow on the Tigris: Russia Joins the Terror Nexus (19 February 2016)