Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

was one of the founding members of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

when it joined in 1945 as the

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

; along with the

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

, Ukraine signed the

United Nations Charter The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the UN, an intergovernmental organization. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the UN system, including its six principal organs: the ...

when it was part of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. After the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

in 1991, the newly independent Ukraine retained its seat.

Activities in the United Nations

From 2016 to 2017, Ukraine served its fourth term as a non-permanent member in the United Nations Security Council in the

Eastern European Group The Group of Eastern European States (EEG) is one of the five United Nations regional groups and is composed of 23 Member States from Eastern, Central and Southern Europe. The Group, as with all the regional groups, is a non-binding dialogue ...

, having previously served its terms in 1948–49, 1984–85 and 2000–01. Following the annexation of Crimea to Russia in 2014, UN member states voted to retain recognition of

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

as part of Ukraine.

History

Ukraine in the Soviet Union (1945–1991)

Ukraine signed the Charter of the

as the

on 26 June, 1945, and it came into force on 24 October, 1945. Ukraine was among the first countries that signed the

, becoming a

founding member of the United Nations The United Nations member states are the sovereign states that are members of the United Nations (UN) and have equal representation in the UN General Assembly. The UN is the world's largest intergovernmental organization. The criteria ...

among 51 countries. This provided the Soviet Union (a permanent

Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...

member with veto powers) with another vote in the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

Dmitry Manuilsky Dmitriy Manuilsky, or Dmytro Zakharovych Manuilsky (Russian: Дми́трий Заха́рович Мануи́льский; Ukrainian: Дмитро Захарович Мануїльський; October 1883 in Sviatets near Kremenets – 22 F ...

, head of the Ukrainian delegation at the United Nations Conference on International Organization, held in April–June 1945 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, was elected Chairman of the First Committee, which elaborated the Preamble and Chapter 1 (Purposes and Principles) of the United Nations Charter. Until 1958, the permanent mission of Ukraine was led by the

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

rather than the permanent representative. Another right that was granted but never used until 1991 was the right of the Soviet republics to secede from the union, which was codified in each of the Soviet constitutions. Accordingly, Article 69 of the

Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the Soviet Union, had four successive constitutions during its existence. The first (1919) was in Russian and the final three were in Ukrainian. The final constitution remained effective until the ...

stated: "The Ukrainian SSR retains the right to willfully secede from the USSR." However, a republic's theoretical secession from the union was virtually impossible and unrealistic in many ways prior to

Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Comm ...

perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...

reforms.

Independent Ukraine (since 1991)

During the events of the

, on 26 August, 1991, the Permanent Representative of the Ukrainian SSR,

Hennadiy Udovenko Hennadiy Yosypovych Udovenko (22 June 1931 – 12 February 2013)

, informed the office of the

Secretary General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-ge ...

that his permanent mission to the international assembly would officially be designated as representing Ukraine.U.N. Mission stresses statehood of Ukraine

The Ukrainian Weekly ''The Ukrainian Weekly'' is the oldest English-language newspaper of the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States, and North America. Founded by the Ukrainian National Association, and published continuously since October 6, 1933, archived copies ...

(1 September 1991) Since 1992, Ukraine has consistently supported peaceful, negotiated settlements to disputes. It has participated in the multilateral talks on the conflict in Moldova and promoted a peaceful resolution to conflict in the post-Soviet state of Georgia. Ukraine also has made a substantial contribution to

UN peacekeeping operations Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role held by the Department of Peace Operations as an "instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace". It is distinguished ...

. During the Ukrainian crisis between 2013 and 2014, the UN adopted Resolution 68/262 on March 27, 2014, entitled Territorial integrity of

, by the

sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly The Sixty-eighth Session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on 17 September 2013. The President of the United Nations General Assembly was chosen from the GRULAC with Antigua and Barbuda's John William Ashe being the consensus candida ...

in response to the Russian annexation of Crimea. The non-binding resolution, which was supported by 100

United Nations member states United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

, affirmed the

's commitment to the

territorial integrity Territorial integrity is the principle under international law that gives the right to sovereign states to defend their borders and all territory in them of another state. It is enshrined in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and has been recognized ...

of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and underscored the invalidity of the

2014 Crimean referendum The Crimean status referendum of 2014 was a disputed referendum on March 16, 2014, concerning the status of Crimea, in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the local government of Sevastopol (both subdivisions of Ukraine) after Russian force ...

. Eleven nations voted against the resolution, while 58 abstained, and a further 24 states were absent when the vote took place.

References

External links

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ukraine and the United Nations