This article is devoted to the study of the fundamental reasons that led to a profound crisis in Russia's relations with the European Union and the West as a whole. The focus is on the objective changes in international relations and the subjective factors in the policies of the RF and the EU that predetermined the vector of their interaction. This article provides a layer-by-layer analysis of these causes starting with a superficial perception of problems and going progressively deeper and deeper to the sources of the current crisis. This method of analysis may be called the "matryoshka (nested doll) method." In other words, we offer a countdown from today's crisis to the post-bipolar start of cooperation between Russia and the EU. Why did things go wrong after getting off to such a good start? And finally, who is to blame for a partnership that did not happen and is there a way out of the impasse?