https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro...20EU%20deal%22.
Looks like they started negotiations to get into bed with the EU back in 2013, when did Russia move into Crimea, I think it was around 2014/15
They obviously did this for a reason, they didn’t want an EU nation on their doorstep or even a possible future nato member.
I vaguely remember the previous Ukrainian PM getting criticism for being a Russian stooge, then getting kicked out etc
And now we havre an Ukraine split in 2. A Russian invasion and a ruined Ukraine. If they had just stayed an independent country and not aligned to the EU we probably wouldn’t be in the situation we find ourselves in today. Russia probably want all the buffer countries to be like this rather than aligning with the EU