>>>Consider this: let’s just assume that the EU wants influence (and there’s some truth to it), and that this is BAD. Meanwhile, GasPutin and his cronies seek to establish a Russian-run, Eastern European Co-Prosperity Sphere. And this is GOOD somehow. The hypocrisy is monumental<<<
It is called checks and balances. Works in international relations too.
Except that what you are describing is not a check, or a balance. If it is bad when the EU does it, then it is bad when Russia does it.