Five years have passed since Vladimir Putin, then Russian prime minister, called for an economic community from Lisbon to Vladivostok — yet Europe is no closer to understanding what he meant.

When Mr Putin spoke of “a genuine harmonised synthesis of the two economies”, including advanced forms of integration and a common industrial policy, he seemed to be speaking the language of Brussels. To this day, one can hear the longing expressed in European Council meetings for what political leaders imagine was a proposal for a continental free trade area. This is meant to have been the moment Mr Putin came closest to embracing EU methods and goals.

In truth, it was the opposite. Mr Putin was merely lending new words to the traditional theory of Russian geopolitics. Russia will always be too European for Asia and too Asian for Europe. But in Eurasia it can feel at home.