Transnistria–Ukraine relations is the bilateral relationship between the

Pridnestrovian Moldovan Republic Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a landlocked breakaway state internationally recognized as part of Moldova. It controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dni ...

(commonly known as Transnistria) and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. Ukraine does not officially recognize the independence of Transnistria. Nevertheless, it maintains special relations with Transnistria in the political, cultural and economic spheres.

History

In 1924, the

Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic The Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, shortened to Moldavian ASSR, was an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics, autonomous republic of the Ukrainian SSR between 12 October 1924 and 2 August 1940, encompassing the modern territory ...

within the

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

was formed. Until 1940, the territory which in the present is Transnistria was part of the Ukrainian SSR.

Economy

The most influential Transnistrian company is

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

. This corporation has extensive foreign contacts and a well-developed network of partners, especially in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, Ukraine and

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

Modern relations

The relations between Transnistria and Ukraine have changed on several times, depending on the foreign policy orientation of the government in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. In 2012, Marcin Kosienkowski defined Ukraine as Transnistria's "main window to the outside world" as a result of Transnistria being in conflict with its parent state Moldova. Currently, about 29% of the Transnistrian population is ethnically Ukrainian. In June 1992, then Ukrainian President

Leonid Kravchuk Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk (, ; 10 January 1934 – 10 May 2022) was a Ukrainian politician and the first president of Ukraine, serving from 5 December 1991 until 19 July 1994. In 1992, he signed the Lisbon Protocol, undertaking to give up Ukrai ...

said that Ukraine would guarantee the independence of Transnistria in case of a Moldovan-Romanian union. In secret, Ukrainian authorities negotiated with the government of Transnistria with the goal of Transnistria joining Ukraine. In 2001, representatives of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

asked the Ukrainian government to close the Transnistrian–Ukrainian border. The Ukrainian government under

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (, ; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine, serving from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by demo ...

ignored these requests. Between late 2004 and early 2005, the

Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution () was a series of protests that led to political upheaval in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005. It gained momentum primarily due to the initiative of the general population, sparked by the aftermath of the ...

changed the government in Ukraine, with

Viktor Yushchenko Viktor Andriiovych Yushchenko (, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. He aimed to orient Ukraine towards Western world, the West, European Union, and N ...

becoming the new president. In 2006, Yushchenko's government began co-operating with the EU and the central government in

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

in order to control the cross-border traffic from and to Transnistria. Already in 2005, the

European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine The European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM Moldova and Ukraine) was launched in 2005. It promotes border control, customs, and trade norms and practices that meet European Union standards and serve the needs of it ...

had begun. In early 2006, the Ukrainian government allowed cross-border traffic that crossed the border without being inspected by the EUBAM mission. In 2005,

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

was the Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council. Within the Orange government, he was accused of lobbying for Transnistria within the pro-Western Ukrainian camp. In the summer of 2006, Ukrainian foreign minister

Borys Tarasyuk Borys Ivanovych Tarasyuk (; born 1 January 1949) is a Ukrainian politician who twice served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and a former MP who is since December 2019 Ukraine's permanent representative to the Council of Europe. ...

visited Transnistria, but did not meet with Transnistrian officials. He however visited the grave of

Ivan Mazepa Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (; ; ) was the Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host and the Left-bank Ukraine in 1687–1708. The historical events of Mazepa's life have inspired Cultural legacy of Mazeppa, many literary, artistic and musical works. He was ...

in Bender. His visit was disrupted by anti-

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

demonstrators. As of 2009, Ukrainian entrepreneurs held about one third of the Transnistrian economy. This included shares of

Moldova Steel Works Moldova Steel Works (; ) is a steel-producing company in Rîbnița, in the unrecognized state of Transnistria. It accounts for more than half of Transnistrian total industrial output. Moldova Steel Works was founded in 1985 for reprocessing of sc ...

held by

Hryhoriy Surkis Hryhoriy Mykhailovych Surkis (; born 4 September 1949) is a Ukrainian businessman, one of five vice-presidents of UEFA since 24 May 2013. Surkis was the president of Football Federation of Ukraine until September 2012.

Ihor Kolomoyskyi Ihor Valeriyovych Kolomoyskyi (; ; born 13 February 1963) is a Ukrainian-born Israeli billionaire businessman, once considered the leading oligarch in Ukraine. Already an entrepreneur in the last years of Soviet Ukraine, in 2010 Kolomoyskyi w ...

Alisher Usmanov Alisher Burkhanovich Usmanov (, ; born 9 September 1953) is a Russian-Uzbek oligarch. He is sanctioned by the US, EU, UK, and Ukrainian governments. By March 2025, Usmanov had an estimated net worth of $16.7 billion and was ranked number 124 a ...

, Vadym Novynskyi and

Rinat Akhmetov Rinat Leonidovych Akhmetov (born 21 September 1966) is a Ukrainian billionaire and businessman. He is the founder and president of international investment group System Capital Management (SCM), and is the wealthiest man in Ukraine. Akhmetov i ...

. During the presidency of

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (born 9 July 1950) is a Ukrainian politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014. He also served as the prime minister of Ukraine several times between 2002 and 2007 and was a member of t ...

, Ukraine supported the Russian stance towards Transnistria. In the course of the presidency, Ukraine supported a tactic of "small steps" in the 5+2 talks on the settlement of the

Transnistria conflict The Transnistria conflict (; ; ) is an ongoing frozen conflict between Moldova and the unrecognized state of Transnistria. Its most active phase was the Transnistria War. There have been several unsuccessful attempts to resolve the conflict ...

. The 2014 Ukrainian Crisis had mostly economic repercussions on Transnistria. In the aftermath of the

2014 Odesa clashes In early 2014, there were clashes between rival groups of protestors in the Ukrainian city of Odesa, during the pro-Russian unrest that followed the Ukrainian Revolution. The street clashes were between pro-unity (and pro-European) protesters ...

Ukrainian officials claimed that Russian nationals from Transnistria were involved in those clashes. In 2014, Ukrainian president

has said that Transnistria is not a sovereign state, but rather, the name of a region along the Ukraine–Moldova border. In 2017, Transnistrian president

Vadim Krasnoselsky Vadim Nikolayevich Krasnoselsky (; ; born 14 April 1970) is a Transnistrian politician who is the 3rd and current President of Transnistria. Previously, he served as a member of the Supreme Council of Transnistria from the 7th district, as 6th ...

said that Transnistria had "traditionally good relations with (Ukraine), we want to maintain them" and "we must build our relations with Ukraine – this is an objective necessity". After winning the

2019 Ukrainian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 31 March 2019. As none of the 39 candidates on the ballot received an absolute majority of the initial vote, a runoff was held on 21 April between the top two vote-getters: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a t ...

, the new Ukrainian president

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

held a press conference with then-Moldovan prime-minister (and now Moldovan president)

Maia Sandu Maia Sandu (; born 24 May 1972) is a Moldovan politician who is serving as the sixth president of Moldova since 2020. She is the founder and former leader of the Party of Action and Solidarity and was Prime Minister of Moldova, prime minister o ...

and assured his support of the territorial integrity of Moldova. Relations were strained during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. Early in the war, Yuriy Vernydub, manager of the famous

FC Sheriff Tiraspol Fotbal Club Sheriff Tiraspol (), commonly known as Sheriff Tiraspol or simply Sheriff, is a professional football club based in Tiraspol, a city located in the unrecognised breakaway state of Transnistria, that plays in the Liga, the top tier ...

quit his job in order to fight for the

Ukrainian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

. In early March, Ukrainian troops blew up a bridge that connects Transnistria to the country. The Transnistrian president and other officials refrained from publicly endorsing a faction in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 27 April 2022,

Oleksii Arestovych Oleksii Mykolaiovych Arestovych (; born 3 August 1975) is a Ukrainian political adviser, former military officer, and columnist. He is also a theologian and the founder of the Apeiron School. Arestovych was a speaker for the Trilateral Contact G ...

, an adviser to the head of Ukraine's presidential office, stated his country could "take control" of Transnistria should the Moldovan government request it. In early 2023, it was rumoured that the government of Ukraine might be interested in occupying Transnistria. In March 2023, security services in Transnistria accused the

Ukrainian government The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (), commonly referred to as the Government of Ukraine (), is the highest body of state executive power in Ukraine. As the Cabinet of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR, it was formed on 18 April 1991, by the Law ...

of attempting to assassinate top Transnistrian officials, including

. The Ukrainian government rejected the allegations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transnistria-Ukraine relations Bilateral relations of Ukraine

Moldova–Ukraine relations

History

Economy

Modern relations

See also

References