I can't help but point out that the EU spent a lot of years trying to build good working relations with Russia. Indeed, not so long ago Gergar (amongst others) was criticising the EU for not taking a stronger line against Russia.First of all, if the country of Russia refuses to be a democracy why on earth would we like them to be part of dictating how we live our lives?
Second of all, the historical animosity might have been considered misplaced if Russia didn't went and invaded their neighbour! If anything the diplomacy post invasion has shown their dynamism in abandoning pro-Russian policies, despite there being economic incentives to continue business as usual.
And I would also point out that the failure to establish decent relations has much more to do with Putin being a Cold War dinosaur deciding that he'd rather be a dictator who would rebuild the Russian Empire, and his perpetual paranoia of the West (particularly the USA).