You waffle on and on about the need for a new partnership and cooperation agreement between the European Union and Russia only to conclude, rightly, that a replacement of the tired 1997 agreement is unlikely to make much difference (“Divide, Rule, or Waffle,” May 3, 2008). The figures you start with, comparing the two “partners,” matter little. Although Russia has less than a third in population and less than a tenth in output, it is still a country. In addition, it is an autocracy. And what is the Union but a mere economic club without a clear goal or direction. As club members scramble to deal with Russia on their own, they are making a unified policy of the Union not only impossible but also unthinkable. This suits the Kremlin fine, and it is likely to keep doing so for many years to come. Union, schmunion.