Following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, Russia and the West have taken measures and counter-measures in multiple domains aimed at mutual deterrence. Russia’s move from a policy of cooperation to confrontation with the West followed processes of eastward expansion by the EU and NATO, and involved renewed geopolitical and geoeconomic ambitions in the post-Soviet space. Its economic growth in the 2000s, centralisation of power and launch of ambitious armament programmes premised the policy change, while the stepwise counter-measures implemented by the West risk escalating the conflict. Russia’s vulnerable economy provides an opportunity for the West to achieve a de-escalation outcome by jointly imposing also firm economic sanctions on Russia.