Warsaw's open criticism of Berlin and Paris for their policy of appeasement toward Moscow over the Ukraine crisis has exposed the fissures within the European Union on the issue.

Different EU member states have different appeals in the bloc's sanctions against Russia. Poland and some other former satellite states of the Soviet Union during the Cold War are the most ardent supporters of the EU being tough on Russia.

It is in Poland and other Eastern European countries where the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has deployed large amounts of forces and weapons.

That raises the question of when these buffer zone countries can seize their fate in their own hands, bidding farewell to the destiny of being used as expendable pieces on the geopolitical chessboard. And when the EU can do so, as it is serving as a buffer zone for the United States.

The different appeals of European countries, particularly within the EU, reflect the dilemma Europe faces in pursuit of its strategic autonomy.

The Ukraine crisis has only served to aggravate Europe's reliance on the US for security and energy, which makes it more difficult for the EU to resolve internal conflicts among different member states.

The Ukraine conflict has only made the cracks in the EU's unity more evident.

What Europe, including Russia, needs is a balanced, effective and sustainable security mechanism in which both sides' security concerns are fully respected.

To form such a security framework, the EU should first of all give a serious thinking to its reliance on the NATO, if not the US, for security.

It is the US that is creating, sustaining and benefiting from the prisoner's dilemma between the EU and Russia.

It is ridiculous that some EU politicians criticize former German chancellor Angela Merkel for her "silence" over the Ukraine crisis in a bid to pass the buck to her without thinking how they have squandered the peace, balance and prosperity Merkel brought to the bloc over a period of more than 10 years.

It is the EU's deviation from the course Merkel has charted that has quickly plunged Europe into its largest war and worst humanitarian crisis since World War II shortly after her retirement.