There are currently no diplomatic or bilateral relations between

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 ...

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 ...

. The two states have been at war since Russia invaded the Crimean peninsula in February 2014, and Russian-controlled armed groups seized Donbas government buildings in May 2014. Following the Ukrainian

Euromaidan Euromaidan ( ; , , ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The p ...

in 2014, Ukraine's

Crimean peninsula Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrai ...

was occupied by unmarked Russian forces, and later illegally annexed by Russia, while pro-Russia separatists simultaneously engaged the Ukrainian military in an armed conflict for control over eastern Ukraine; these events marked the beginning of the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

. In a major escalation of the conflict on 24 February 2022, Russia launched a large-scale military invasion, causing Ukraine to sever all formal diplomatic ties with Russia. After the

collapse of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

in 1991, the successor states' bilateral relations have undergone periods of ties, tensions, and outright hostility. In the early 1990s, Ukraine's policy was dominated by aspirations to ensure its sovereignty and independence, followed by a foreign policy that balanced cooperation with 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 ...

(EU), Russia, and other powerful polities. Relations between the two countries became hostile after the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, which was followed by

Russia's annexation of Crimea Annexation of Crimea may refer to: * Annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire (1783) *Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, a ...

from Ukraine, and the war in Donbas, in which Russia backed the separatist fighters of the

Donetsk People's Republic The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR; , ) is Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupied territory in Ukraine that the Russian Federation has claimed to annex and declared as a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia, comprising parts o ...

and the

Luhansk People's Republic The Luhansk People's Republic (LPR; , ) is a disputed territory administered as a republic of Russia in the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, with its capital in Luhansk. The LPR was proclaimed by Russian-backed paramilitar ...

. The conflicts had killed over 13,000 people by early 2020, and brought international sanctions on Russia. Numerous bilateral agreements have been terminated and economic ties severed. Throughout 2021 and 2022, a Russian military build-up on the border of Ukraine escalated tensions between the two countries and strained their bilateral relations, eventually leading to Russia initiating a full-scale invasion of the country. Ukraine broke off diplomatic relations with Russia in response to the invasion. Streets bearing the names of Russian figures and monuments symbolising Russian and Ukrainian friendship were removed from various locations across Ukraine. In March 2023, the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

banned toponymy with names associated with Russia.

History of relations

Kievan Rus'

Both Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus claim their heritage from

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...

(Kyivan Rus'), a polity that united most of the East Slavic and some Finnic tribes and adopted Byzantine Orthodoxy in the ninth to eleventh centuries. According to old Rus chronicles,

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, ...

(Kiev), the capital of modern Ukraine, was proclaimed the Mother of Rus Cities, as it was the capital of the powerful late medieval state of Rus.

Muscovy and the Russian Empire

After the

Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' The Mongol Empire invaded and conquered much of Kievan Rus' in the mid-13th century, sacking numerous cities such as Principality of Ryazan, Ryazan, Principality of Yaroslavl, Yaroslavl, Principality of Pereyaslavl, Pereyaslavl and Vladimi ...

, the histories of the people inhabiting territories of Russia and Ukraine diverged. The

Grand Duchy of Moscow The Grand Principality of Moscow, or Muscovy, known as the Principality of Moscow until 1389, was a late medieval Russian monarchy. Its capital was the city of Moscow. Originally established as a minor principality in the 13th century, the gra ...

united all remnants of Rus's northern provinces and evolved into the

Russian state Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

. The

Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia The Principality or, from 1253, Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, also known as the Kingdom of Ruthenia, Kingdom of Rus', or Kingdom of Russia, also Halych–Volhynian Kingdom was a medieval state in Eastern Europe which existed from 1199 to 1349. I ...

came under the domination of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

, followed by the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. Within the Commonwealth, the militant

Zaporozhian Cossacks The Zaporozhian Cossacks (in Latin ''Cossacorum Zaporoviensis''), also known as the Zaporozhian Cossack Army or the Zaporozhian Host (), were Cossacks who lived beyond (that is, downstream from) the Dnieper Rapids. Along with Registered Cossa ...

refused

polonization Polonization or Polonisation ()In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэяй. Польскі ...

, and often clashed with a Commonwealth government controlled by the

Polish nobility The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

. Unrest among the

Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...

caused them to rebel against the Commonwealth and seek union with Russia, with which they had similarities in culture, language, and religion. This was formalized through the

Treaty of Pereiaslav The Pereiaslav Agreement or Pereyaslav AgreementPereyaslav Agreement

in 1654. Starting in the mid-17th century, much of Ukraine's territory was gradually annexed by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and its autonomy taken away by the time of the late 18th-century

partition of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign ...

. Soon after, the

Cossack host A Cossack host (; , ''kazachye voysko''), sometimes translated as Cossack army, was an administrative subdivision of Cossacks in the Russian Empire. Earlier the term ''voysko'' ( host, in a sense as a doublet of ''guest'') referred to Cossack o ...

was forcibly disbanded by the Russian Empire and most Cossacks were relocated to the

Kuban Kuban ( Russian and Ukrainian: Кубань; ) is a historical and geographical region in the North Caucasus region of southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Don Steppe, the Volga Delta and separated fr ...

region on the southern edge of the Russian Empire. The Russian Empire considered

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

(and

Belarusians Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian language, Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99&n ...

) ethnically Russian, and referred to them as " Little Russians" and saw the Russian nation as comprising a "trinity" of sub-nations:

Great Russia Great Russia, sometimes Great Rus' ( , ; , ; , ), is a name formerly applied to the territories of "Russia proper", the land that formed the core of the Grand Duchy of Moscow and later the Tsardom of Russia. This was the land to which the e ...

Little Russia Little Russia, also known as Lesser Russia, Malorussia, or Little Rus', is a geographical and historical term used to describe Ukraine. At the beginning of the 14th century, the patriarch of Constantinople accepted the distinction between wha ...

, and White Russia. Until the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

this view was only opposed by a small group of Ukrainian nationalists. Nevertheless, a perceived threat of "Ukrainian separatism" set in motion a set of measures aimed at the

russification Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...

of the "Little Russians". In 1804, the

Ukrainian language Ukrainian (, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language, spoken primarily in Ukraine. It is the first language, first (native) language of a large majority of Ukrainians. Written Ukrainian uses the Ukrainian alphabet, a variant of t ...

was banned from schools as a subject and language of instruction. In 1876 Alexander II's secretary

Ems Ukaz The Ems Ukaz or Ems Ukase (; ), was an internal decree (''ukaz'') of Emperor Alexander II of Russia issued on banning the use of the Ukrainian language in print except for reprinting old documents. The ukaz also forbade the import of Ukrainia ...

prohibited the publication and importation of most Ukrainian language books, public performances and lectures in the Ukrainian language, and even the printing of Ukrainian texts accompanying musical scores.

Ukrainian People's Republic and Ukrainian State

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

was forced to recognize Ukrainian independence in March 1918 by signing the

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I. The treaty, whi ...

as a consequence of

Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers On , an armistice was signed between the Russian Republic led by the Bolsheviks on the one side, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Kingdom of Bulgaria, the German Empire and the Ottoman Empire—the Central Powers—on the other. The armistice ...

. This only paused the

Ukrainian–Soviet War The Ukrainian–Soviet War () is the term commonly used in post-Soviet Ukraine for the events taking place between 1917 and 1921, nowadays regarded essentially as a war between the Ukrainian People's Republic and the Bolsheviks (Russian SFSR a ...

which started again in the end of 1918. With defeat of Ukrainian People's Republic in 1921 most of its territory was incorporated into

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. ...

Soviet Union

Comparison of life expectancy in Ukraine and Russia

Ukrainian People's Republic

The

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

saw establishment of official relations between the

Russian Provisional Government The Russian Provisional Government was a provisional government of the Russian Empire and Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately after the abdication of Nicholas II on 2 March, O.S. New_Style.html" ;"title="5 ...

and the Ukrainian Central Rada (Central Council of Ukraine) that was represented at the Russian government by its commissar Petro Stebnytsky. At the same time Dmitry Odinets was appointed the representative of Russian Affairs in the Ukrainian government. After the Soviet military aggression by the Soviet government at the beginning of 1918, Ukraine declared its full independence from the

Russian Republic The Russian Republic,. referred to as the Russian Democratic Federative Republic in the 1918 Constitution, was a short-lived state which controlled, ''de jure'', the territory of the former Russian Empire after its proclamation by the Rus ...

on 22 January 1918, as the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

which existed from 1917 to 1922. The two treaties of

Brest-Litovsk Brest, formerly Brest-Litovsk and Brest-on-the-Bug, is a city in south-western Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the Polish town of Terespol, where the Bug and Mukhavets rivers meet, making it a border town. It serves as the admini ...

that Ukraine and Russia signed separately with the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

calmed the military conflict between them, and peace negotiations were initiated the same year. After the end of World War I, Ukraine became a battleground in the

Ukrainian War of Independence The Ukrainian War of Independence, also referred to as the Ukrainian–Soviet War in Ukraine, lasted from March 1917 to November 1921 and was part of the wider Russian Civil War. It saw the establishment and development of an independent Ukr ...

, linked to the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

. Both Russians and Ukrainians fought in nearly all armies based on personal political beliefs. In 1922, Ukraine and Russia were two of the founding members of the

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

, and were the signatories of the treaty that terminated the union in December 1991. The end of the Russian Empire also ended the ban on the Ukrainian language. This was followed by a period of

Korenizatsiya Korenizatsiia (, ; ) was an early policy of the Soviet Union for the integration of non-Russian nationalities into the governments of their specific Soviet republics. In the 1920s, the policy promoted representatives of the titular nation, and ...

that promoted the cultures of the different Soviet Republics.

Holodomor

In 1932–1933 Ukraine experienced the

Holodomor The Holodomor, also known as the Ukrainian Famine, was a mass famine in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 that killed millions of Ukrainians. The Holodomor was part of the wider Soviet famine of 1930–193 ...

(; derived from ) which was a man-made famine in the

that killed up to 7.5 million Ukrainians. During the famine, which is also known as the "Terror-Famine in Ukraine" and "Famine-Genocide in Ukraine", millions of citizens of the Ukrainian SSR, mostly ethnic Ukrainians, died of starvation in an unprecedented peacetime catastrophe. Scholars disagree on the relative importance of natural factors and bad economic policies as causes of the famine, and the degree to which the destruction of the Ukrainian peasantry was premeditated by Soviet leaders. The Holodomor famine extended to many Soviet republics, including Russia and Kazakhstan. In the absence of documentary proof of intent, scholars have also argued that the Holodomor was caused by the economic problems associated with the radical changes implemented during the period of liquidation of private property and Soviet industrialization, combined with the widespread drought of the early 1930s. However, on 13 January 2010, the Kyiv Appellate Court found

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, Kaganovich, Molotov, and the Ukrainian Soviet leaders Kosior and Chubar, amongst other functionaries, posthumously guilty of genocide against Ukrainians during the Holodomor famine.

Ukrainian independence

Nationalism spread following Mikhail Gorbachev's political liberalisation of the Soviet Union in the 1980s. The pro-independence

People's Movement of Ukraine The People's Movement of Ukraine () is a Ukraine, Ukrainian political party and one of the first Opposition (politics), opposition parties in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Ukraine.The first officially registered opposition politica ...

was founded in 1989. After the

Congress of People's Deputies of Russia The Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian SFSR () and since 1992 Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation () was the supreme government institution in the Russian SFSR and in the Russian Federation from 16 May 1990 to 21 Se ...

made the

Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian SFSR () was a political act of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, then part of the Soviet Union, which marked the beginning of constitutional reform in Russia. The Declaration wa ...

, the

of the

made a similar declaration on 16 July 1991.Following the

1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt The 1991 Soviet coup attempt, also known as the August Coup, was a failed attempt by hardliners of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) to Coup d'état, forcibly seize control of the country from Mikhail Gorbachev, who was President ...

, the

Declaration of Independence of Ukraine The Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine was adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR (''Verkhovna Rada'') on 24 August 1991. The subsequent

1991 Ukrainian independence referendum A referendum on the Act of Declaration of Independence was held in Ukraine on 1 December 1991.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', page 1976 An overwhelming majority of 92% of voters approved the declar ...

approved this by a nationwide majority of 92.3% and majorities in every region of Ukraine. As stated on the website of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2002, the Russian Federation recognized Ukraine's independence on 5 December 1991 and formally established diplomatic relations on 14 February 1992. The basis for post-Soviet relations were set by the Belovezh Accords between the new Ukrainian leader

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 ...

and Russia's president

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...

, alongside the Belarusian leader

Stanislav Shushkevich Stanislav Stanislavovich Shushkevich (15 December 1934 – 3 May 2022) was a Belarusian politician and scientist who served as the first head of state of independent Belarus after it seceded from the Soviet Union, serving as the first chairman ...

. While the leaders agreed to formally dissolve the Soviet Union, the Russians wanted to create new suparanational structures to replace it, to the opposition of the Ukrainians. While this led to the establishment of the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization, regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an ar ...

, it did not result in any legally binding commitments. An

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

of independent Ukraine were soon established: Leningrad Mayor

Anatoly Sobchak Anatoly Aleksandrovich Sobchak ( rus, Анатолий Александрович Собчак, p=ɐnɐˈtolʲɪj ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ sɐpˈtɕak; 10 August 1937 – 19 February 2000) was a Russian politician and legal scholar, a co-autho ...

said that this was "a time bomb under the future of all mankind", while political scientist

John Mearsheimer John Joseph Mearsheimer (; born December 14, 1947) is an American political scientist and international relations scholar. He is R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor in the University of Chicago. Mearsheimer is best known for dev ...

advocated a nuclear-armed Ukraine to maintain peace and prevent Russia from moving to reconquer it.

1990s

Nuclear disarmament

After the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, Ukraine gained its independence and inherited the third largest nuclear stockpile in the world, along with significant means of its design and production. The country had 130

UR-100N The UR-100N, also known as RS-18A, is an intercontinental ballistic missile in service with Soviet and Russian Strategic Missile Troops. The missile was given the NATO reporting name SS-19 Stiletto and carries the industry designation 15A30. Dev ...

intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...

s (ICBM) with six warheads each, 46 RT-23 Molodets ICBMs with ten warheads apiece, as well as 33

heavy bomber Heavy bombers are bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually Aerial bomb, bombs) and longest range (aeronautics), range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy ...

s, totaling approximately 1,700 warheads remaining on Ukrainian territory. While Ukraine had physical control of the weapons, it did not have operational control, as they were dependent on Russian-controlled electronic

Permissive Action Link A permissive action link (PAL) is an access control security device for nuclear weapons. Its purpose is to prevent unauthorized arming plug, arming or Nuclear chain reaction, detonation of a nuclear weapon. The United States Department of Defens ...

s and the Russian command and control system. In 1992, Ukraine agreed to voluntarily remove over 3,000 tactical nuclear weapons. Embassy of Ukraine in Moscow

Following the signing of the 1994

Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances The Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances comprises four substantially identical political agreements signed at the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) in Budapest, Hungary, on 5 December 1994, to provide security assu ...

among the U.S., the U.K., and Russia, as well as similar agreements with France and China, Ukraine agreed to destroy the rest of its nuclear weapons, and to join the

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperatio ...

(NPT). The memoranda, signed in Patria Hall at the Budapest Convention Center with US Ambassador Donald M. Blinken amongst others in attendance, prohibited the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States from threatening or using military force or economic coercion against Ukraine, "except in self-defence or otherwise in accordance with the

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

." By 1996, Ukraine transferred all Soviet-era strategic warheads to Russia.

Crimea, Sevastopol, and division of the Black Sea Fleet

The second major dispute of early years was over the fate of the

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

as well as its operating bases, mainly

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

on the Crimean Peninsula. As a military city with an "all-Union status" in the Soviet Union, Russia viewed Sevastopol as belonging to it as the successor state to the Soviet central government. This was also the view with regards to the Black Sea Fleet, supported by Yeltsin. The

1954 transfer of Crimea In 1954, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union transferred the Crimean Oblast from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR. The territory had been recognized within the Soviet Union as having "close ties" to the Ukrainian SSR, a ...

by Communist Party first secretary

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

was declared illegitimate by the Russian legislature in May 1992, which was in turn disputed by Ukraine's parliament. Concurrent with the debates surrounding the Black Sea Fleet was a political movement within the then-styled Republic of Crimea for greater independence within Ukraine, or closer ties with Russia. In 1994, pro-Russian candidate Yuriy Meshkov was elected President of Crimea, and the same summer the Sevastopol City Council voted to join Russia. However, the decision was condemned by both Yeltsin and the then recently elected

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

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 ...

, widely perceived to be a pro-Russian candidate. This, along with internal political divisions within Crimea itself, caused the movement to lose support. Agreements were reached to split the fleet 50/50 in August 1992 and June 1993. However, in September 1993 Russia began to use the threat of cutting gas supplies in order to achieve a better outcome on the issue. After several years of intense negotiations the whole issue was resolved in 1997. The Partition Treaty divided the fleet and allowed Russia to lease some of the naval bases in Sevastopol for the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

until 2017 (extended to 2042 with the Kharkiv Pact), and the Treaty of Friendship fixed the principle of strategic partnership, the recognition of the inviolability of existing borders, the respect for territorial integrity and a mutual commitment not to use its territory to harm the security of each other.

Economics

Another major dispute related to energy supplies, as several Soviet–Western Europe oil and gas pipelines ran through Ukraine. After new treaties came into effect, Ukraine's gas debt arrears to Russia were paid off by transfer of some nuclear-capable weapons that Ukraine inherited from the USSR to Russia, such as

Tu-160 The Tupolev Tu-160 (; NATO reporting name: Blackjack) is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing nuclear-capable heavy strategic bomber and airborne missile platform designed by the Tupolev Design Bureau in the Soviet Union in the 1970s. The aircra ...

strategic bombers. While the Russian share in Ukraine's exports declined from 26.2% in 1997 to around 23% in 1998–2000, the share of imports held steady at 45–50% of the total. Overall, between one third and one half of Ukraine's trade was with the Russian Federation. Dependence was particularly strong in energy. Up to 75% of annually consumed gas and close to 80% of oil came from Russia. On the export side, dependence on Russia was also significant. Russia remained Ukraine's primary market for ferrous metals, steel plate and pipes, electric machinery, machine tools and equipment, food, and products of the chemical industry. It has been a market of hope for Ukraine's high value-added goods, more than nine tenths of which were historically tied to Russian consumers. With old buyers gone by 1997, Ukraine experienced a 97–99% drop in production of industrial machines with digital control systems, television sets, tape recorders, excavators, cars and trucks. At the same time and in spite of the post-communist slowdown, Russia came out as the fourth-largest investor in the Ukrainian economy after the US, the Netherlands, and Germany, having contributed $150.6 million out of $2.047 billion in foreign direct investment that Ukraine had received from all sources by 1998.

2000s

Although disputes existed prior to the

2004 Ukrainian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 31 October, 21 November, 26 December 2004 and 1 January 2005. This was the fourth Ukrainian presidential elections, presidential election in Ukraine following independence from the Soviet Union. The ...

, including speculation about the accidental shooting down of a Russian airliner by the Ukrainian military and the controversy over

Tuzla Island The Tuzla Island (; ; ; from Turkic "tuzla" – salty, saline, : ''saltpan'') is a sandy islet in the form of a spit located in the middle of the Strait of Kerch, between the Kerch Peninsula in the west and the Taman Peninsula in the east. ...

, relations with Russia under the latter years of

's term improved. In 2002, the Russian Government participated in financing the construction of the Khmelnytskyi and the Rivne Nuclear Power Plants. In January 2003 both countries signed a

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

over the definition of the land border between them. In December 2003, Russia secured cooperation agreement over the Kerch Strait. In 2003, Russia attempted to integrate Ukraine into a new Russian-led Single Economic Space (also known as the Common Economic Zone Agreement) with Russia. However, with president

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 ...

in power, several problems resurfaced, including the

Russia–Ukraine gas disputes The Russia–Ukraine gas disputes refer to a number of disputes between Ukrainian oil and gas company Naftogaz, Naftogaz Ukrayiny and Russian gas supplier Gazprom over Natural gas in Ukraine, natural gas supplies, prices, and debts. These dispu ...

due to Ukraine's growing cooperation with the EU and bid to join

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 ...

. The overall perception of relations with Russia in Ukraine differs largely on regional factors. Many

Russophone This article details the geographical distribution of Russian-speakers. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the status of the Russian language often became a matter of controversy. Some Post-Soviet states adopted policies of Derus ...

eastern and southern regions, which are also home to the majority of the Russian diaspora in Ukraine welcome closer relations with Russia. However further central and particularly western regions of Ukraine show a less friendly attitude to the idea of a historic link to Russia and the Soviet Union in particular. In Russia, there is no regional breakdown in the opinion of Ukraine, but on the whole, Ukraine's recent attempts to join the EU and NATO were seen as change of course to only a pro-Western, anti-Russian orientation of Ukraine and thus a sign of hostility and this resulted in a drop of Ukraine's perception in Russia (although President of Ukraine

reassured Russia that joining NATO was not meant as an anti-Russian act, and Putin said that Russia would welcome Ukraine's membership in the EU). This was further fuelled by the public discussion in Ukraine of whether the

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

should be given official status and be made the second state language. During the 2009 gas conflict the

Russian media Television, magazines, and newspapers have all been operated by both state-owned and for-profit corporations which depend on advertising, subscription, and other sales-related revenues. Even though the Constitution of Russia guarantees freed ...

almost uniformly portrayed Ukraine as an aggressive and greedy state that wanted to ally with Russia's enemies and exploit cheap Russian gas. Further worsening of relations was provoked by belligerent statements made in 2007–2008 by both Russian (e.g. the

Russian Foreign Ministry The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (MFA Russia; , МИД РФ) is the central government institution charged with leading the foreign policy and foreign relations of Russia. It is a continuation of the Ministry of Foreig ...

, the

Mayor of Moscow The Mayor of Moscow () is the head and the highest-ranking official of Moscow, who leads the Government of Moscow, the main executive body of the city. Moscow is both a city and separate federal subject, according to the Constitution of ...

Yury Luzhkov Yury Mikhailovich Luzhkov ( rus, Юрий Михайлович Лужков, p=ˈjʉrʲɪj mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ lʊˈʂkof; 1936 – 10 December 2019) was a Russian politician who served as mayor of Moscow from 1992 to 2010. Before the elect ...

and then

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

) and Ukrainian politicians, for example, the former

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

Borys Tarasiuk, deputy Justice Minister of Ukraine and then leader of parliamentary opposition

Yulia Tymoshenko Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko ( Hrihyan born 27 November 1960) is a Ukrainian politician, who served as Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2005, and again from 2007 until 2010; the first and only woman in Ukraine to hold that position. She has been ...

. The status of the Russian

remained a matter of disagreement and tensions.

Second Tymoshenko government

In February 2008, Russia unilaterally withdrew from the Ukrainian–Russian intergovernmental agreement on the Main Centre for Missile Attack Warning signed in 1997. During the

Russo-Georgian War The August 2008 Russo-Georgian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Georgia,Occasionally, the war is also referred to by other names, such as the Five-Day War and August War. was a war waged against Georgia by the Russian Federation and the ...

, relations between Ukraine and Russia soured due to Ukraine's support for

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and Russian claims of Ukraine supplying arms to Georgia as well as due to new Ukrainian regulations for the Russian Black Sea Fleet, which sent vessels and marines to the war, such as the demand that Russia obtain prior permission when crossing the Ukrainian border, which Russia refused to comply with. Further disagreements over the Ukrainian position on Georgia and relations with Russia were among the issues that brought down the coalition government between the

Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc The Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc (, Russian language, Russian: Блок Наша Украина – Народная Самооборона, ''Blok Nasha Ukraina – Narodnaya Samooborona,'' NUNS; until 2007 named Our Ukraine Bloc) w ...

and the

Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc () was the name of the bloc of political parties in Ukraine led by Yulia Tymoshenko since 2001. In November 2011, the participation of blocs of political parties in parliamentary elections was banned.

in September 2008 (on 16 December 2008, the coalition was recreated with a new coalition partner, the Lytvyn Bloc). This rekindled controversy over the Russian military presence in Crimea. On 2 October 2008, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of supplying arms to Georgia during the Russo-Georgian War. Putin also claimed that Moscow had evidence proving that Ukrainian military experts were present in the conflict zone during the war. Ukraine denied the allegations. The head of its state arms export company, Ukrspetsexport, said no arms were sold during the war, and Defense Minister

Yuriy Yekhanurov Yuriy Ivanovych Yekhanurov (, ; born 23 August 1948) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician who was Prime Minister of Ukraine from 2005 to 2006 and Ministry of Defence (Ukraine), Minister of Defense from 2007 to 2009. Background and professional ca ...

denied that Ukraine's military personnel fought on the side of Georgia.

Prosecutor General of Ukraine The Prosecutor General of Ukraine (also ''Procurator General''; , ) heads the system of official prosecution in courts known as the Office of the Prosecutor General (, or, before 2020, ). The prosecutor general is appointed and dismissed by th ...

Oleksandr Medvedko confirmed on 25 September 2009 that no personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces participated in the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, no weapons or military equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were present at the conflict, and no help was given to the Georgian side. He also confirmed that the international transfers of military equipment between Ukraine and Georgia from 2006 to 2008 were conducted in accordance with earlier contracts, the laws of Ukraine, and international treaties. The US supported Ukraine's bid to join NATO launched in January 2008 as an effort to obtain a NATO Membership Action Plan. Russia strongly opposed any prospect of Ukraine and Georgia becoming NATO members. According to the alleged transcript of Putin's speech at the 2008 NATO–Russia Council Summit in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, Putin spoke of Russia's responsibility for ethnic Russians resident in Ukraine and urged his NATO partners to act advisedly; according to some media reports he then also privately hinted to his US counterpart at the possibility of Ukraine losing its integrity in the event of its NATO accession. According to a document in the

United States diplomatic cables leak An incident, commonly referred to as Cablegate, began on 28 November 2010 when WikiLeaks began releasing classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates, embassies, and diplomatic missions around ...

Putin "implicitly challenged the territorial integrity of Ukraine, suggesting that Ukraine was an artificial creation sewn together from territory of Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, and especially Russia in the aftermath of the Second World War." Vladimir Putin in Ukraine November 2009-8

Vladimir Putin in Ukraine November 2009-8

During a January 2009 dispute over

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

prices, exports of Russian natural gas through Ukraine were shut down. Relations further deteriorated when Russian Prime Minister Putin during this dispute said that "Ukrainian political leadership is demonstrating its inability to solve economic problems, and ..situation highlights the high criminalization of krainianauthorities" and when in February 2009 (after the conflict) Ukrainian President Yushchenko and the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry considered Russian President

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Mini ...

's statement that Ukraine must compensate for gas crisis losses to the European countries an "emotional statement which is unfriendly and hostile towards Ukraine and the EU member-states". During the conflict the

almost uniformly portrayed Ukraine as an aggressive and greedy state that wanted to ally with Russia's enemies and exploit cheap Russian gas. After a "master plan" to modernize the natural gas infrastructure of Ukraine between the EU and Ukraine was announced (on 23 March 2009) Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko told an investment conference at which the plan was unveiled that it appeared to draw Ukraine legally closer to the

and might harm Moscow's interests. According to Putin "to discuss such issues without the basic supplier is simply not serious". In a leaked US diplomatic cable regarding the January 2009 Russian–Ukrainian gas crisis, the US Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor was quoting Ambassador of Ukraine to Russia Kostyantyn Hryshchenko as expressing his opinion that Kremlin leaders wanted to see a totally subservient person in charge in Kyiv (a

regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

in Ukraine) and that Putin "hated" the then-President Yushchenko and had a low personal regard for Yanukovych, but saw then-Prime Minister Tymoshenko as someone perhaps not that he could trust, yet with whom he could deal. On 11 August 2009, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev posted an open letter and a videoblog on the Kremlin.ru website, and the official Kremlin

LiveJournal LiveJournal (), stylised as LiVEJOURNAL, is a Russian-owned social networking service where users can keep a blog, journal, or diary. American programmer Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal on April 15, 1999, as a way of keeping his high school ...

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

, in which he criticised Yushchenko for what Medvedev claimed was the Ukrainian president's responsibility in the souring of Russia–Ukraine relations and "the anti-Russian position of the current Ukrainian authorities". Medvedev further announced that he would not send a new ambassador to Ukraine until there was an improvement in the relationship. In response, Yushchenko wrote a letter which noted he could not agree that the Ukrainian–Russian relations had run into problems and wondered why the Russian president completely ruled out the Russian responsibility for this. Analysts said Medvedev's message was timed to influence the campaign for the

2010 Ukrainian presidential election 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to s ...

. The

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

spokesman, commenting on the message by Medvedev to his Ukrainian counterpart Yuschenko, said, among other things: "It is important for Ukraine and Russia to have a constructive relationship. I'm not sure that these comments are necessarily in that vein. But going forward, Ukraine has a right to make its own choices, and we feel that it has a right to join NATO if it chooses." On 7 October 2009, Russian Foreign Minister

Sergey Lavrov Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (Russia), Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2004. He is the longest-serving Russian foreign minister since Andrei Gromyko d ...

said the Russian government wanted to see economy prevail in Russian–Ukrainian relations and that relations between the two countries would improve if the two countries set up

joint ventures A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

, especially in

small Small means of insignificant size Size in general is the Magnitude (mathematics), magnitude or dimensions of a thing. More specifically, ''geometrical size'' (or ''spatial size'') can refer to three geometrical measures: length, area, or ...

and medium-sized businesses. At the same meeting in

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

, Lavrov said the Russian government would not respond to a Ukrainian proposal to organize a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents, but that "Contacts between the two countries' foreign ministries are being maintained permanently." On 2 December 2009, Ukrainian Foreign Minister

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 ...

and Lavrov agreed on gradually abandoning the compilation of lists of individuals banned from entering their countries.

2010s

Viktor Yanukovych presidency

According to

Taras Kuzio Taras Kuzio is a Professor of Political Science at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy ( Kyiv, Ukraine). His area of study is Russian and Ukrainian political, economic and security affairs. Education Taras Kuzio is of Ukrainian de ...

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 ...

was the most pro-Russian and neo-Soviet president to have been elected in Ukraine. After his election, he fulfilled the demands laid out by

Russian President The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. I ...

in his letter written to former President Viktor Yushchenko in August 2009. On 22 April 2010 Presidents Viktor Yanukovych and Dmitry Medvedev signed an agreement leasing the Russian Naval Forces base in

to Russia for 25 years in return for discounted natural gas deliveries which accounted for $100 per 1,000 cubic meters. The lease extension agreement was highly controversial inside and outside of Ukraine. On 17 May 2010, the President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in

on a two-day visit. During the visit Medvedev hoped to sign cooperation agreements in "inter-regional and international problems", according to

RIA Novosti RIA Novosti (), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (), is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013, by a decree of Vladimir Putin, it was liquidated and its assets and workforce were transferred to the newly created ...

. This was also mentioned on the official inquiry at the

by the First Vice Prime Minister Andriy Klyuyev. According to some news agencies the main purpose of the visit was to resolve disagreements in the Russian–Ukrainian energy relations after Viktor Yanukovych agreed on the partial merger of

Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐsˈprom) is a Russian State-owned enterprise, majority state-owned multinational Energy industry, energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. The Gazprom name is a contract ...

and

Naftogaz Naftogaz of Ukraine (, ''Naftogaz Ukrainy''; literally "Naphtha-Gas of Ukraine") is the largest national oil and gas company of Ukraine. It is a state-owned company

. Apart from the merger of the state gas companies there are also talks of the merger of the nuclear energy sector as well. Both Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (April 2010) and

Russian Prime Minister The prime minister of the Russian Federation, also domestically stylized as the chairman of the government of the Russian Federation and widely recognized as the prime minister, is the head of government of Russia and the second highest ranking ...

(June 2010) have stated they noticed a big improvement in relations since Viktor Yanukovych presidency. On 14 May 2013 an unknown veteran of unknown intelligence service Sergei Razumovsky, leader of the All-Ukrainian Association of Homeless Officers, who resides in Ukraine under the Ukrainian flag called for the creation of Ukrainian–Russian international volunteer brigades in support of the

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

government in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

to fight rebels. One of the reasons why Rozumovsky wanted to create such brigades was that he felt the government of Ukraine did not support its officer corps. Because of that, Rozumovsky intended to apply for Syrian citizenship. Some sources claim that he was a Kremlin provocateur. On 17 July 2013 near the Russian coast of the

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...

, considered internal waters of both Russia and Ukraine (no

boundary delimitation Electoral boundary delimitation (or simply boundary delimitation or delimitation) is the drawing of boundaries of electoral precincts and related divisions involved in elections, such as Federated state, states, counties or other municipalities ...

), a Russian coast guard patrol boat collided with a Ukrainian fishing vessel. Four fishermen died while one was detained by Russian authorities on charges of

poaching Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the huntin ...

. According to the surviving fisherman, their boat was rammed by the Russians and the fishermen were fired at as well, while Russian law enforcement agencies claimed that it was the poachers who tried to ram into the patrol vessel. The Minister of Justice of Ukraine Olena Lukash acknowledged that Russia has no jurisdiction to prosecute the detained citizen of Ukraine. According to the wife of the surviving fisherman, the Ukrainian Consul in Russia was very passive in providing any support on the matter. The surviving fisherman was expected to be released to Ukraine before 12 August 2013, however, the Prosecutor Office of Russia chose to keep the Ukrainian detained in Russia. Another incident took place on the border between

Belgorod Belgorod (, ) is a city that serves as the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River, approximately north of the border with Ukraine. It has a population of It was founded in 1596 as a defensiv ...

and

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administra ...

oblasts when an apparently inebriated Russian tractor driver decided to cross the border to Ukraine along with his two friends on 28 August 2013. Unlike the Azov incident a month earlier on 17 July 2013, the State Border Service of Ukraine handed over the citizens of Russia right back to the Russian authorities. Tractor ''Belarus'' was taken away and handed over to the

Ministry of Revenues and Duties The Ministry of Revenues and Duties () was a government ministry of Ukraine. The ministry was created on 24 December 2012 by a Decree of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and it merged the country's State Tax Service and the State Customs S ...

Economic integration and Euromaidan

In 2013, Ukraine both pursued an observer status in the Russian-led Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, and persisted with moving along with

association agreement A European Union Association Agreement or simply Association Agreement (AA) is a treaty between the European Union (EU, or its predecessors), its Member States and a non-EU country or bloc of countries that governs bilateral relations. Areas fre ...

with the EU, scheduled to be signed that November. On 14 August 2013 the Russian Custom Service stopped all imports coming from Ukraine. Some politicians saw that as start of a trade war against Ukraine to prevent Ukraine from signing a trade agreement with the

. According to Pavlo Klimkin, one of the Ukrainian negotiators of the Association Agreement, initially "the Russians simply did not believe (the association agreement with the EU) could come true. They didn't believe in our ability to negotiate a good agreement and didn't believe in our commitment to implement a good agreement." In September 2013, Russia warned Ukraine that if it went ahead with a planned agreement on free trade with the EU, it would face financial catastrophe and possibly the collapse of the state.

Sergey Glazyev Sergey Yurievich Glazyev (; born January 1, 1961) is a Russian politician and economist, member of the National Financial Council of the Bank of Russia, and, since 2008, a full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Glazyev was minister o ...

, adviser to President Vladimir Putin, said that, "Ukrainian authorities make a huge mistake if they think that the Russian reaction will become neutral in a few years from now. This will not happen." Russia had already imposed import restrictions on certain Ukrainian products and Glazyev did not rule out further sanctions if the agreement was signed. Glazyev allowed for the possibility of separatist movements springing up in the Russian-speaking east and south of Ukraine. On 21 November 2013, Yanukovych suspended preparations for signing EU Association Agreement, to seek closer economic relations with Russia. On 17 December 2013

agreed to lend Ukraine 15 billion dollars in financial aid and a 33% discount on natural gas prices. The treaty was signed amid massive, ongoing protests in Ukraine for closer ties between Ukraine and the European Union.
Critics pointed out that in the months before the 17 December 2013 deal a change in Russian customs regulations on imports from Ukraine was a Russian attempt to prevent Ukraine from signing an Association Agreement with the

Annexation of Crimea and war in eastern Ukraine

After the ousting of the highly corrupt, pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych in the Revolution of Dignity, Russian military men with no insignia wearing masks seized a number of important buildings in

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

, including the parliament building and two airports on 27 February. Under siege, the Supreme Council of Crimea dismissed the autonomous republic's government and replaced chairman of the

Council of Ministers of Crimea The Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (; ), briefly SovMin, is the executive branch of government of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a republic within southern Ukraine that is currently suspended due to Russian occupat ...

, Anatolii Mohyliov, with

Sergey Aksyonov Sergey Valeryevich Aksyonov (; ; ; born 26 November 1972) is a Russian politician serving as the head of the Republic of Crimea since 9 October 2014, a territory internationally recognised as part of Ukraine. Biography Sergey Aksyonov was ...

. Ukraine accused Russia of intervening in Ukraine's internal affairs, while the Russian side officially denied such claims. In response to the crisis, the

Ukrainian parliament The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovna Rada building in Ukraine's capi ...

requested that the Budapest Memorandum's signatories reaffirm their commitment to the principles enshrined in the political agreement, and further asked that they hold consultations with Ukraine to ease tensions. On 1 March without declaration of war, the Russian parliament granted President Vladimir Putin the authority to use military force in Ukraine. On the same day, the acting president of Ukraine,

Oleksandr Turchynov Oleksandr Valentynovych Turchynov (, ; born 31 March 1964) is a Ukrainians, Ukrainian politician, screenwriter, Baptists in Ukraine, Baptist minister and economist. He is the former Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukra ...

decreed the appointment of the Prime Minister of Crimea as unconstitutional. He said, "We consider the behavior of the Russian Federation to be direct aggression against the sovereignty of Ukraine!" In mid March, after a disputed local referendum, Russia recognized Crimea as a

sovereign state A sovereign state is a State (polity), state that has the highest authority over a territory. It is commonly understood that Sovereignty#Sovereignty and independence, a sovereign state is independent. When referring to a specific polity, the ter ...

and proceeded to formally annex the peninsula. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Provisional Principal of Russia in Ukraine to present ''

note verbale Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened vers ...

'' of protest against Russia's recognition of the Republic of Crimea and its subsequent annexation. Two days later, the

condemned the treaty and called Russia's actions "a gross violation of

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

". Ukraine responded with sanctions against Russia as well as blacklisting and freezing assets of numerous individuals and entities involved with the annexation. Ukraine started a campaign not to buy Russian products and other countries supporting Ukraine's position (e.g. the European Union, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Albania, Montenegro, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, etc.) followed similar measures. Russia responded with similar measures against Ukraine and its supporters but did not publicly reveal the list of people or entities sanctioned. On 19 March 2014 all

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 ...

(at the time besieged in their bases by unmarked soldiers) were withdrawn from Crimea. On 8 April 2014 an agreement was reached between Russia and Ukraine to return interned vessels to Ukraine and "for the withdrawal of an undisclosed number of Ukrainian aircraft seized in Crimea". Russia returned 35 ships that had been impounded during its annexation of Crimea but unilaterally suspended the return of

Ukrainian Navy The Ukrainian Navy (), is the Navy, maritime force of Ukraine and one of the eight Military branch, service branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The naval forces consist of five components: surface forces, submarine forces, Ukrainian Naval ...

materials to Ukraine after Ukraine did not renew its unilaterally declared ceasefire on 1 July 2014 in the

war in Donbas The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...

. Sixteen minor ships hence did return to Ukraine. On 15 April, the Verkhovna Rada declared the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol to be under "provisional occupation" by the Russian military The territories were also deemed "inalienable parts of Ukraine" subject to Ukrainian law. On 19 March 2014 all

(at the time besieged in their bases by ununiformed soldiers) were withdrawn from Crimea. On 17 April 2014, President Putin stated that the Russian military had backed Crimean separatist militias, stating that Russia's intervention was necessary "to ensure proper conditions for the people of Crimea to be able to freely express their will". Throughout March and April 2014, pro-Russian unrest spread in Ukraine, with pro-Russian groups proclaiming "People's Republics" in the

oblasts An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

and

, both partially outside the control of the Ukrainian government. On 17 July 2014

Malaysia Airlines flight 17 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17) was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Kuala Lumpur that was shot down by Russian-backed forces with a Buk missile system, Bu ...

was shot down by a Buk

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...

launched from pro-Russian separatist-controlled territory in Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed. Military clashes between pro-Russian rebels (backed by Russian military) and the

Armed Forces of Ukraine 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 ...

began in the

Donbas The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...

region in April 2014. On 5 September 2014 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 ...

and representatives of the self-proclaimed

and the

signed a tentative

ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...

– the

agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus (disambiguation), a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of ...

. The ceasefire imploded amidst intense new fighting in January 2015. A new ceasefire agreement took effect in mid-February 2015, but also failed to stop the fighting.
Russia has been accused by

and Ukraine of engaging in direct military operations to support the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic.
Russia denied this, but in December 2015, Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin admitted that Russian military intelligence officers were operating in Ukraine, insisting though that they were not the same as regular troops. Russia said that Russian "volunteers" were helping the separatists People's Republics. At the 26 June 2014 session of the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

Ukrainian President

stated that bilateral relations with Russia could not be normalized unless Russia undid its unilateral annexation of Crimea and returned control of Crimea to Ukraine. In February 2015, Ukraine ended a 1997 agreement that Russians could enter Ukraine with internal ID instead of a travel passport. In February 2015 the law "On protection information television and radio space of Ukraine," banned the showing (on Ukrainian television) of "audiovisual works" that contain "the popularization, agitation for, propaganda of any action of law enforcement agencies, the armed forces, other armed, military or security forces of the occupier state" was enacted. One year later Russian productions (on Ukrainian television) had decreased by three to four times. Early in March 2014, and prior to its independence referendum, all broadcast of Ukraine-based TV channels was suspended in Crimea. Later that month, the Ukrainian National Council for TV and Radio Broadcasting ordered measures against some Russian TV channels, which were accused of broadcasting misleading information about Ukraine. Fifteen more Russian TV channels were banned in March 2016.

Continued deterioration of relations

In May 2015, Ukraine suspended a military cooperation agreement with Russia, that had been in place since 1993. Following a breakdown in mutual business ties, Ukraine also stopped supplying components used to produce military equipment in Russia. In August, Russia announced that it would ban imports of Ukrainian agricultural goods starting January 2016. In October 2015, Ukraine banned all direct flights between Ukraine and Russia. In November 2015, Ukraine closed its air space to all Russian military and civil airplanes. In December 2015, Ukrainian lawmakers voted to place a trade embargo on Russia in retaliation for the latter's cancellation of the two countries free-trade zone and ban on food imports as the free-trade agreement between the European Union and Ukraine came into force in January 2016. Russia imposes tariffs on Ukrainian goods from January 2016, as Ukraine joins the

Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (DCFTA) are three free trade areas established between the European Union, and Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine respectively. The DCFTAs are part of each country's EU Association Agreement. They allow Geo ...

with the EU. Since 2015 Ukraine has banned Russian artists from entering Ukraine and also banned other Russian works of culture from Russia as "a threat to national security". Russia did not reciprocate. Russian Foreign Minister

responded by saying that "

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

should not be like

" and should not impose "blacklists" and restrictions on the cultural figures of Ukraine. Lavrov did add that Russian producers and the film industry should take into account "unfriendly attacks of foreign performers in Russia" when implementing cultural projects with them.
According to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine the number of Russian citizens who crossed the

Russia–Ukraine border The Russia–Ukraine border is the international boundary between Russia and Ukraine. Over land, the border spans five Russian Oblast, oblasts and five Ukrainian oblasts. Due to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in early 2014, the bo ...

(more than 2.5 million Russians in 2014) dropped by almost 50% in 2015. On 5 October 2016, the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (, ) is the ministry of the Ukrainian government that oversees the foreign relations of Ukraine. The head of the ministry is the Minister of Foreign Affairs. History Originally, the ministry was estab ...

officially recommended that its citizens should avoid travel to Russia, due to Russian law enforcement's growing number of groundless arrests of Ukrainian citizens, saying that they often "rudely treat Ukrainians, use illegal methods of physical and psychological pressure, torture and other acts that violate human dignity".
In a 14 June 2018 resolution on Russia, the European Parliament said there were 71 "illegally detained Ukrainian citizens in Russia and on the Crimean peninsula." In February 2017, the Ukrainian government Russian book ban in Ukraine, banned the commercial importation of books from Russia, which had accounted for up to 60% of all titles sold in Ukraine, following an August 2015 ban on particular titles. Ukraine's 2017 Education in Ukraine, education law makes Ukrainian language, Ukrainian the Language policy in Ukraine, only language of primary education in state schools. The law faced criticism from officials in Russia and Hungary. Russia's Foreign Ministry stated that the law is designed to "forcefully establish a mono-ethnic language regime in a multinational state." On 18 January 2018 the

passed a law defining areas seized by the

and the

as "temporarily occupied by Russia." The law also called Russia an "aggressor" state. In March 2018, the Ukrainian border guards detained in the

the Russian-flagged, Crimean-registered fishing vessel ''Nord'', accusing the crew of entering "territory, which has been under a temporary occupation". The captain of the Nord, Vladimir Gorbenko, is facing up to five years in prison. In November 2018 Kerch Strait incident, Russia fired upon and seized three

vessels (and imprisoned its 24 sailors in

) off the coast of Crimea injuring crew members. The event prompted angry protests outside the Russian embassy in Ukraine and an embassy car was set on fire. Consequently, martial law in Ukraine, martial law was imposed for a 30-day period from 26 November in 10 Ukrainian border

(regions). Martial law was introduced because Ukrainian President

claimed there was a threat of "full-scale war" with Russia. During the martial law (and starting on 30 November 2018) Ukraine banned all Russian men between 16 and 60 from entering the country for the period of the martial law with exceptions for humanitarian purposes. Ukraine claimed this was a security measure to prevent Russia from forming units of "private" armies on Ukrainian soil. On 27 December 2018 the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine announced that it had extended "the restrictive measures of the State Border Guard Service regarding the entry of Russian men into Ukraine." (According to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine) between 26 November and 26 December 2018 1,650 Russian citizens were refused entry into Ukraine. From 26 December 2018 until 11 January 2019 the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine denied 800 Russian citizens access to Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy presidency

In 2019, amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine, enshrined the irreversibility of the country's strategic course towards EU and NATO membership. On 11 July 2019, 2019 Ukrainian presidential election, recently elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a telephone conversation with

following the former's appeals to the Russian leader to take part in talks with

, the United States, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom in Minsk. The leaders also discussed the exchange of prisoners held by both sides. On 7 September, Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners. Russia's state-owned energy company

and Ukraine agreed a five-year deal on Russia in the European energy sector, Russian gas transit to Europe at the end of 2019.

2020s

On 2 February 2021, Zelenskyy decided to shut down pro-Russian TV channels owned by the parliamentary deputy Taras Kozak, a close associate of Viktor Medvedchuk, the godfather of the daughter of Russia president

. Medvedchuk is also said to be the real owner of the pro-Russian TV channels. As part of the ongoing

, fighting escalated in the first quarter of 2021, with 25 Ukrainian soldiers dying in the conflict, compared to the 50 that died in 2020 according to Ukrainian authorities. In late March 2021, large movements of military equipment were reported in various areas within Russia, with the equipment headed to

, and the Rostov Oblast, Rostov and Voronezh Oblast, Voronezh oblasts. Various intelligence in the following months, including a statement from Russian news agency TASS, put the number of troops situated in the Southern Military District which borders the Donbas conflict zone at 85,000 to 90,000. Despite reassurances from a Russian government official that the troops "pose no threat", Russian official Dmitry Kozak stated that Russian forces will act to "defend" Russian citizens in Ukraine, and any escalation would lead to "the beginning of the end of Ukraine". Other politicians such as German chancellor Angela Merkel and United States White House press secretary Jen Psaki have made comments, Merkel phoning Putin demanding a reversal of the build-up, and Psaki describing the build-up as "the largest since 2014". In late October, Russian news agency TASS reported massive drills occurring in the Astrakhan Oblast involving over 1,000 personnel and 300 pieces of military hardware, which included the Buk, S-300 missile system, S-300, and Tor missile system, Tor-M2 missile systems. In July 2021, Putin published an essay titled ''On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians'', in which he states that Belarusians, Ukrainians and Russians should be in one all-Russian nation as a part of the Russian world and are "one people" whom "forces that have always sought to undermine our unity" wanted to "divide and rule". The essay Right to exist, denies the existence of Ukraine as an independent nation. Putin wrote: "I consider the wall that emerged in recent years between Russia and Ukraine, between parts of essentially one historic and cultural space, as one big, common problem, as a tragedy." On 7 December 2021, US president Joe Biden spoke with Putin via a secure video link regarding the build-up of Russian military presence and increase in tensions on the Ukrainian border in response to Ukraine's intent to join

, which Putin described as a "security threat". These tensions also came in line with the election of Zelenskyy, who pushed back against Russian encroachment on Ukrainian sovereignty. During the video conference, Putin said Western military activity in Ukraine was approaching "a red line", repeating that he saw it as a threat toward Russian national security. Biden responded by stating that the United States was ready to impose various economic sanctions more harmful than the post-Crimea annexation sanctions if Russia were to take military actions, most notably floating the possibility of cutting Russia out from the global financial telecommunication giant Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT. However, European leaders feared that this step might provoke an even harsher response from Russia. On 9 December 2021 an incident occurred involving the Ukrainian command ship Donbas, Ukrainian command ship ''Donbas'', which had set sail from the port of Mariupol at 09:12 Moscow time, heading towards the Kerch Strait (shared internal waters of Russia and Ukraine, Treaty Between the Russian Federation and Ukraine on Cooperation in the Use of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, by treaty). According to the Federal Security Service, FSB, the vessel did not react to a request to change course, but later headed back. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia), Russian foreign ministry labeled this incident as a "provocation", whilst Ukraine dismissed the Russian grievances as part of an "information attack" on Kyiv. On the same day, Biden called Zelenskyy regarding the tensions in the Donbas region and internal reform in Ukraine, with Zelenskyy issuing a statement thanking Biden for the "strong support". White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that "The president's intention going into this call was to provide an update for President Zelensky on his call with President Putin and underscore our support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity". Despite these reassurances, Biden stressed the idea that "the United States is going to unilaterally use force to confront Russia from invading Ukraine is not ... in the cards right now." but that if Russia were to invade Ukraine, there would be "severe consequences". US Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee again proposed the idea of severe sanctions, "at the maximum end of the spectrum", and reiterated the possibility of cutting out Russia from SWIFT, saying that "Putin himself, as well as his inner circle, would lose access to bank accounts in the West. Russia would effectively be cut off and isolated from the international economic system". German chancellor Olaf Scholz also warned of "consequences" for the Nord Stream, Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a Russian gas pipeline project operated by

under the wholly-owned subsidiary Nord Stream AG, Nord Stream AG 2, which delivers natural gas to Energy in Germany, Germany. Whilst Biden ruled out direct American military intervention in Ukraine, he mentioned that the United States may "be required to reinforce our presence in NATO countries to reassure particularly those in the eastern front". Ukrainian general Kyrylo Budanov said, while speaking to ''The New York Times'' that "There are not sufficient military resources for repelling a full-scale attack by Russia if it begins without the support of" additional forces, and that "without delivery of reserves, there's not an army in the world that can hold out". On 21 February 2022, Russia Diplomatic recognition, officially recognized the

and

, two breakaway states in eastern Ukraine. On the same day, Putin ordered the deployment of troops to territory held by the LPR and the DPR. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that Russia was planning the "biggest war in Europe since 1945" as Putin intended to invade and encircle

. On 22 February 2022, Zelenskyy said he would consider the possibility of severing Ukraine's Embassy of Russia, Kyiv, diplomatic relations with Russia.

History post Russian invasion

2022

Although Russia had repeatedly denied any plans to invade Ukraine, the Russian army eventually Russian invasion of Ukraine, invaded Ukraine on 24 February, with ground and air assaults across many parts of the country including on the capital, Kyiv. President Zelenskyy soon announced that Ukraine had cut all diplomatic relations with Russia. On 26 February 2022, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian soldiers were blocking Russian troops moving on Kyiv, while several Western nations acted on earlier proposed sanctions, cutting off a number of Russian institutions from the world's major financial payments system, SWIFT. Zelenskyy said he was "99.9 percent sure" that Putin thought the Ukrainians would welcome the invading forces with "flowers and smiles". On 5 March 2022, according to the Russian RIA news agency, Russia's foreign ministry urged on European Union and NATO members to "stop supplying arms" to Ukraine. Moscow is particularly concerned that portable anti-aerial Stinger missiles could fall into terrorist hands, posing a threat to planes, according to the report. Russia had previously supplied anti-aircraft missiles to pro-Russian separatists who downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. On 5 April 2022, Liz Truss, the United Kingdom's foreign secretary, announced that Britain would deploy investigators to Ukraine to assist in the collection of evidence of war crimes, including sexual abuse. In April 2022, in an interview with the Italian newspaper ''Corriere della Sera'', Russian political scientist Sergey Karaganov, who is considered close to Putin, stated that "war will be victorious, in one way or another. I assume demilitarization will be achieved and there will be denazification, too. Like we did in Germany and in Chechnya. Ukrainians will become much more peaceful and friendly to us." Annexation of Southern and Eastern Ukraine

Annexation of Southern and Eastern Ukraine

On 10 May 2022, it was reported that Russia was responsible for a large-scale cyberattack against Viasat (American company), Viasat's KA-SAT network immediately before the Russian incursion into Ukrainian territory, primarily targeting the Ukrainian military's digital assets. Intelligence from the United Kingdom's U.K. National Cyber Security Centre, National Cyber Security Centre stated that the attacks also caused disruption to wind farms and other internet users in Central Europe. In a statement by the EU Council, the cyberattack also had a "significant impact causing indiscriminate communication outages and disruptions across several public authorities, businesses and users in Ukraine". President Zelenskyy's military adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said that up to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers died in the first 100 days of the war. In early June 2022, Ukrainian politician Mykhailo Podolyak said that up to 200 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in combat every day. On 17 June 2022, Putin told the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum relations between Russia and Ukraine would normalise upon completion of the "special military operation". On 30 September, Putin signed decrees which Russian annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, annexed Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts of Ukraine into the Russian Federation. The annexations are United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-11/4, not recognized by the international community, and are illegal under international law. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine

, deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia and former Russian president, publicly wrote that "Ukraine is NOT a country, but artificially collected territories" and that Ukrainian language, Ukrainian "is NOT a language" but a "mongrel dialect" of Russian. Medvedev has also said that Ukraine should not exist in any form and that Russia will continue to wage war against any independent Ukrainian state. Moreover, Medvedev claimed in July 2023 that Russia would have had to Nuclear risk during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, use a nuclear weapon if 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive was a success. According to Medvedev, the "existence of Ukraine is fatally dangerous for

and that they will understand that life in a large common state is better than death. Their deaths and the deaths of their loved ones. And the sooner Ukrainians realize this, the better". On 22 February 2024, Medvedev described the future plans of Russia in the Russo-Ukrainian War when he claimed that the Russian Army will go further into Ukraine, taking the southern city of Odesa and may again push on to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, and stated that "Where should we stop? I don't know". For his claims Medvedev has been described as "Russian rashist (Russian fascist)" by Ukrainian media. On 18 October 2022, Sergey Surovikin, the commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, said in an interview with Russian media that "Our opponent is a criminal regime, while we and the Ukrainians are one people and want the same thing: for Ukraine to be a country that's friendly to Russia and independent from the West". In December 2022, Putin said that a war against Ukraine could be a "long process". Hundreds of thousands of people have been Casualties of the Russo-Ukrainian War, killed in the

since February 2022. In January 2023, Putin cited recognition of Russia's sovereignty over the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupied and annexed territories as a condition for 2022 Russia–Ukraine peace negotiations, peace talks with Ukraine.

2023

On 21 March 2023 the

passed On the Condemnation and Prohibition of Propaganda of Russian Imperial Policy in Ukraine and the Decolonization of Toponymy, a law that did forbid to have toponymy with names associated with Russia. In the law's explanatory note was stated this was "a ban on assigning geographic objects names that glorify, perpetuate, promote, or symbolize the occupying state." On 20 October 2023, the

initiated steps to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), UOC due to its alleged ties with Russia. This came in spite of the UOC claiming it had severed ties with Moscow following Russia's invasion. On 31 October 2023, the President sponsored a bill in the Rada to terminate consular relations with Russia. On December 15, 2023, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ukraine), Interior Ministry of Ukraine issued an arrest warrant for Patriarch Kirill, the Moscow-based head of the Russian Orthodox Church. It characterized him as "an individual in hiding from the bodies of pretrial investigation."

2024

In February 2024, Putin claimed that the Russo-Ukrainian War has the "elements of a civil war" and that the "Russian people will be reunited", while the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), Ukrainian Orthodox Church (a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church, which mostly Religion and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, supports the Russian invasion of Ukraine and mandatory publicly pray for military victory over Ukraine) "brings together our souls". Nevertheless, in the official governmental website of Ukraine it is stated that the Ukrainians and Russians are not "All-Russian nation, one nation" and that the Ukrainians identify themselves as an independent nation. A poll conducted in April 2022 by "Rating (sociological group), Rating" found that the vast majority (91%) of Ukrainians (excluding the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine) do not support the thesis that "Russians and Ukrainians are one people". On 4 March 2024, during a festival in Sochi, Dmitri Medvedev stated that "One of Ukraine's former leaders once said Ukraine is not Russia. That concept needs to disappear forever" and declared that "Ukraine is definitely Russia". With these words Medvedev referred to former Ukrainian president

's 2003 book ''Ukraine Is Not Russia''. In November 2023, Kuchma presented his new book ''Ukraine is Not Russia: Twenty Years Later''.

Border

Russia and Ukraine share of border. In 2014, the Ukrainian government unveiled a plan to build a defensive walled system along the border with Russia, named "Project Wall". It was expected to cost almost $520 million, take four years to complete and has been under construction as of 2015. In June 2020 the State Border Guard of Ukraine expected that the project would be finished by 2025, although the Border Service stated that it had been completed in January 2022.Ukraine's Wall project on border with Russia implemented by a mere 40% (Document)
, UNIAN (5 June 2020) On 1 January 2018 Ukraine introduced biometric controls for Russians entering the country. On 22 March 2018 Ukrainian President

signed a decree that required Russian citizens and "individuals without citizenship, who come from migration risk countries" (more details were not given) to notify the Ukrainian authorities in advance about their reason for travelling to Ukraine. Since 30 November 2018 Ukraine has banned all Russian men between 16 and 60 from entering the country with exceptions for humanitarian purposes. Since 1 July 2022 Russian citizens need to apply for a Travel visa, visa to enter Ukraine. During the first 4.5 months of the visa regime, 10 visas were issued and seven Russian citizens entered Ukraine with a visa (mostly for humanitarian reasons).

Armaments and aerospace industries

The Ukrainian and Russian arms and aviation manufacturing sectors remained deeply integrated following the break-up of the Soviet Union. Ukraine is the world's eighth largest exporter of armaments according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, and according to analysts cited by ''The Washington Post'', around 70% of Ukraine's defence-related exports flowed to Russia before 2014, or nearly US$1 billion. Potentially strategically sensitive exports from Ukraine to Russia included 300–350 helicopter engines per year as well as various other aircraft engines from Motor Sich in Zaporizhia, intercontinental ballistic missiles from Yuzhmash in Dnipro, missile guidance systems from factories in

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

, 20% of Russia's uranium consumption from mines in Zhovti Vody, 60% of the gears used in Russian warships from manufacturers Mykolaiv, and oil and gas from the

. In March 2014, following the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, Russian annexation of Crimea, Ukraine barred all exports of weaponry and military equipment to Russia. Jane's Information Group believed (on 31 March 2014) that while supply may be slowed by the Ukrainian embargo, it was unlikely to do any real damage to Russia's military.

Popular opinion and philosophy

In Russia

In opinion polls taken before 2014, Russians generally say they have a more negative attitude towards Ukraine than List of Latin phrases: V#vice versa, vice versa. Polls in Russia have shown that after top Russian officials made radical statements or took drastic actions against Ukraine the attitude of those polled towards Ukraine worsened (every time). The issues that have hurt Russians' view of Ukraine are: * Possible Ukraine–NATO relations, Ukrainian NATO membership * Ukrainian attempts to have the

recognized as genocide against the Ukrainian nation * Attempts to honor the Ukrainian Insurgent Army Although a large majority of 1991 Ukrainian independence referendum, Ukrainians voted for independence in December 1991, in the following years the Media of Russia, Russian press portrayed Ukraine's independence as the work of "Ukrainian nationalism, nationalists" who "twisted" the "correct" instincts of the masses according to a 1996 study. The study argues that this influenced the Russian public to believe that the Ukrainian political elite is the only thing blocking the "Ukrainians' heartfelt wish" to reunite with Russia. Some members of the Russian political elite continued to claim that Ukrainian language, Ukrainian is a Russian dialects, Russian dialect and that Ukraine (and Belarus) should become part of the Russian Federation. In a June 2010 interview Mikhail Zurabov, then Russian ambassador to Ukraine, stated "Russians and Ukrainians are a single nation with some nuances and peculiarities". History of Ukraine, Ukrainian history is not treated as a separate subject in leading List of institutions of higher education in Russia, Russian universities but rather incorporated into the history of Russia. According to experts, the Government of Russia, Russian government cultivates an image of Ukraine as the enemy to cover up its own internal mistakes. Analysts like Philip P. Pan (writing for ''The Washington Post'') argued late 2009 that

portrayed the then-Government of Ukraine as anti-Russian. 80% had a "good or very good" attitude towards Belarus in 2009. During the 1990s, polls showed that a majority of people in Russia could not accept the

and the independence of Ukraine. According to a 2006 poll by Russian Public Opinion Research Center, VTsIOM 66% of all Russians regretted the collapse of the Soviet Union. 50% of respondents in Ukraine in a similar poll held in February 2005 stated they regret the disintegration of the Soviet Union. In 2005 (71%) and 2007 (48%) polls, Russians expressed a wish to unify with Ukraine; although a unification solely with Belarus was more popular. A poll released on 5 November 2009 showed that 55% of Russians believed that the relationship with Ukraine should be a friendship between "two independent states". A late 2011 poll by the Levada Center showed 53% of polled Russians preferred friendship with an independent Ukraine, 33% preferred Ukraine to be under Russia's economic and political control, and 15% were undecided. According to Levada's 2012 poll, 60% of Russians preferred Russia and Ukraine as independent but friendly states with open borders without visas or customs; the number of unification supporters increased by 4% to 20% in Russia. Twenty surveys conducted from January 2009 to January 2015 by the Levada Center found that less than 10% of Russians supported Russia and Ukraine becoming one state. In the January 2015 survey, 19% wanted eastern Ukraine to become part of Russia and 43% wanted it to become an independent state. A November 2014 survey by the University of Oslo found that most Russians viewed Ukraine as not legitimate as a state in its internationally recognised borders and with its then government. According to an April 2015 survey by the Levada Center, when asked "What should be Russia's primary goals in its relations with vis-a-vis Ukraine?" (multiple answers allowed), the most common answers were: Restoring good neighborly relations (40%), retaining Crimea (26%), developing economic cooperation (21%), preventing Ukraine from joining NATO (20%), making gas prices for Ukraine the same as for other European countries (19%), and ousting the current Ukrainian leadership (16%). In February 2019, 82% of Russians had a positive attitude towards

, but only 34% of Russians had a positive attitude towards Ukraine, and only 7% of Russians had positive attitude towards the leadership of Ukraine. Some observers noted what they described as a "Generation gap, generational struggle" among Russians, with younger Russians more likely to be against Putin and his policies and older Russians more likely to accept the narrative presented by state-controlled mass media in Russia, media in Russia. According to a March 2021 survey by the Levada Center, 68% of Russians aged 18–24 had favorable views on Ukraine. A Levada poll released in February 2021 found that 80% of Russians supported Ukraine's independence from Russia and only 17% of Russians wanted Ukraine to become part of Russia. The thinking of many Russians, including Russian political elites, about Ukraine has also been influenced by the Russian world concept and also by nationalist philosophers such as Alexandr Dugin often referred to as Putin's brain. The Russian world concept is a totalitarian ideology based on a specific theology that sees the West's decadence as an enemy of Russian culture, and regards war as a legitimate method of purifying the world from the demonic. Dugin is believed by some to have laid the ideological groundwork for the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 In Russian: as part of his advocacy for Ukraine becoming "a purely administrative sector of the Russian centralized state", which he refers to as ''Novorossiya (confederation), Novorossiya'', or New Russia. At the end of March 2022, a poll conducted in Russia by the Levada Center concluded the following: When asked why they think the military operation is taking place, respondents said it was to protect and defend civilians, ethnic Russians or Russian speakers in Ukraine (43%), to prevent an attack on Russia (25%), to get rid of nationalists and "denazify" Ukraine (21%), and to incorporate Ukraine or the Donbas region into Russia (3%)."

In Ukraine

A poll released on 5 November 2009 showed that about 67% of Ukrainians believed the relationship with Russia should be a friendship between "two independent states". According to a 2012 poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), 72% of Ukrainians preferred Ukraine and Russia as independent but friendly states with open borders without visas or customs; the number of unification supporters shrunk by 2% to 14% in Ukraine. In December 2014, 85% of Ukrainians (81% in eastern regions) rated relations with Russia as hostile (56%) or tense (29%), according to a Deutsche Welle survey which did not include Crimea and the separatist-controlled part of

. Gallup (company), Gallup reported that 5% of Ukrainians (12% in the south and east) approved of the Russian leadership in a September–October 2014 survey, down from 43% (57% in the south and east) a year earlier. In September 2014, a survey by Alexei Navalny of the mainly

cities of Odesa and

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

found that 87% of residents wanted their region to stay in Ukraine, 3% wanted to join Russia, 2% wanted to join "Novorossiya," and 8% were undecided. A KIIS poll conducted in December 2014 found 88.3% of Ukrainians were opposed to joining Russia. According to Al Jazeera English, Al Jazeera, "A poll conducted in 2011 showed that 49% of Ukrainians had relatives living in Russia. ... a recent [February 2019] poll conducted by the independent Russian research centre "Levada center, Levada" shows that 77% of Ukrainians and 82% of Russians think positively of each other as people." In February 2019, 77% of Ukrainians were positive about Russians, 57% of Ukrainians were positive about Russia, but only 13% of Ukrainians had positive attitude towards the Russian government. In March 2022, a week after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian invasion of Ukraine, 98% of Ukrainians – including 82% of Russians in Ukraine, ethnic Russians living in Ukraine – said they did not believe that any part of Ukraine was rightfully part of Russia, according to Lord Ashcroft's polls which did not include Crimea and the separatist-controlled part of Donbas. 97% of Ukrainians said they had an unfavourable view of Russian President Vladimir Putin, with a further 94% saying they had an unfavourable view of the Russian Armed Forces. 81% of Ukrainians said they had a very unfavourable or somewhat unfavourable view of the Russian people. 65% of Ukrainians – including 88% of those of Russian ethnicity – agreed that "despite our differences there is more that unites ethnic Russians living in Ukraine and Ukrainians than divides us." At the end of 2021, 75% of Ukrainians had a positive attitude toward ordinary Russians, while in May 2022, 82% of Ukrainians had a negative attitude toward ordinary Russians.

Treaties and agreements

* 1654 March Articles (2 April 1654) (undermined by the Truce of Vilna, Treaty of Hadiach, Treaty of Andrusovo) ** approved by the Treaty of Pereyaslav, Cossack Council (Pereiaslav, 18 January 1654) * Union Workers'-Peasants' treaty (28 December 1920) * Union treaty (30 December 1922; 31 January 1924) (surpassed by the Belavezha Accords) ** approved by the Seventh All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets, 7th All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets (10 December 1922) ** ratified by the 9th All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets (May 1924) * 1954 Soviet Decree: Transfer of the Crimean Oblast from the RSFSR to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (February 1954) ** decreed by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (19 February 1954) * Treaty between the Russian SFSR and the Ukrainian SSR (Kyiv, 19 November 1990) (surpassed by the treaty of 1997) ** ratified by the Supreme Council of the Russian SFSR (23 November 1990) ** ratified by the Supreme Council of Ukraine (1990) "yes": 352, "nay": 0 * Belavezha Accords (8 December 1991) *

(5 December 1994) ** Following the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and the subsequent War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas in 2014, Ukraine, the US, Canada, the UK, along with other countries, stated that Russian involvement is a breach of its obligations to Ukraine under the Budapest Memorandum, a Memorandum signed by Bill Clinton,

, John Major, and

, and in violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity. * Partition Treaty on the Status and Conditions of the Black Sea Fleet (Kyiv, 28 May 1997) ** ratified by the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (2 March 1999) ** the State Duma approved the denunciation of the treaty unanimously by 433 members of parliament on 31 March 2014. * Russian–Ukrainian Friendship Treaty, Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership Between the Russian Federation and Ukraine (Kyiv, 31 May 1997) * Treaty Between the Russian Federation and Ukraine on Cooperation in the Use of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait (2003) * 2010 Kharkiv Pact ** both the Federal Assembly (Russia), Russian and Verkhovna Rada, Ukrainian parliaments did ratify the agreement on 27 April 2010 ** the State Duma approved the denunciation of the treaty unanimously by 433 members of parliament on 31 March 2014 Ukraine (has also) terminated several treaties and agreement with Russia since the start of the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, Russian annexation of Crimea (for example agreements in the military and technical cooperation sphere signed in 1993). In December 2019, Ukraine and Russia agreed to implement a complete ceasefire in eastern Ukraine by the year-end. The negotiations were brokered by France and Germany, where the countries in conflict committed an extensive prisoner swap along with withdrawal of Ukraine's military from three major regions falling on the front line. On 17 July 2022, Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish military delegations met with United Nations officials in Istanbul to start talks on the resumption of exports of Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea port of Odesa. On 22 July 2022, Russian and Ukrainian officials have signed the deal to allow grain exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports. Under the agreement, a coalition of Turkish, Ukrainian and UN staff will monitor the loading of grain into vessels in Ukrainian ports, to allay Russian fears of weapons smuggling before navigating a preplanned route through the Black Sea, which remains heavily mined by Ukrainian and Russian forces. On 29 October 2022, Russia said it was suspending its participation in the grain deal, in response to what it called a major Ukrainian drone attack on its Black Sea fleet.

Territorial disputes

A number of territorial disputes exist between two countries: *

including

, Kerch Strait,

. Russia lays claims onto territory of

by the resolution #1809-1 of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation "On legal evaluation of decisions of the supreme bodies of state power of the RSFSR about changing the status of Crimea that was adopted in 1954". In 2014, Crimea was annexed by Russia. Ukraine considers this as an annexation and as a violation of international law and agreements by Russia, including the Agreement Establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States in 1991, Helsinki Accords, Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of 1994 and Partition Treaty on the Status and Conditions of the Black Sea Fleet, Treaty on friendship, cooperation and partnership between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. The event was International reactions to the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, condemned by many world leaders as an illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory, in violation of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, signed by Russia. It led to the other members of the then G8 suspending Russia from the group, then introducing International sanctions during the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, the first round of sanctions against the country. The United Nations General Assembly also rejected the vote and annexation, adopting a non-binding resolution, non-binding United Nations General Assembly Resolution 68/262, resolution affirming the "territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders". See also: International reactions to the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, International sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War *

. The Tuzla conflict is unresolved since 2003. * Some Russian nationalists have Rus' (name)#From Rus' to Ukraine, disputed Ukraine's independent existence, considering Ukrainians (as well as Belarusians) to belong to the Russian nation, and Ukraine to belong to Greater Russia. In 2006, Putin reportedly stated, "Ukraine is not even a state"; after the annexation of Crimea, he stated in July 2021 that Ukrainians and Russians "2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis#putinsEssay, are one people". In February 2020, leading Kremlin ideologue Vladislav Surkov stated, "There is no Ukraine". According to international relations scholar Björn Alexander Düben, "Among the Russian public it is commonly regarded as self-evident that Crimea has historically been Russian territory, but also that all of Ukraine is in essence a historical part of Russia". * In 2022, UK defence minister Ben Wallace (politician), Ben Wallace characterized Putin's article "On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians" as a "skewed and selective reasoning to justify, at best, the subjugation of Ukraine and at worse the forced unification of that sovereign country."

Cultural relations

It has been found that Ukraine has closer values to Russia than almost any EU country. However, younger Ukrainians buck this trend.

Removal of Russian street names and monuments across Ukraine

On 26 April 2022, the sculpture under the People's Friendship Arch in Kyiv, which depicted a Ukrainian worker and a Russian worker standing together, was dismantled.Soviet monument of "friendship of peoples" demolished in the center of Kyiv
Ukrayinska Pravda (26 April 2022) The arch and the Peoples' Friendship Arch monument are also planned to be renamed and to become a new monument. This would be one of the first steps in a plan to demolish about 60 monuments and to rename dozens of streets associated with the Soviet Union, Russia and Russian figures across Ukraine. Days before the People's Friendship Arch statue was removed, aspects of this street renaming and monument removal plan were already being carried out across other areas in Ukraine as well. Ukraine has decided to rename the streets of Ukrainian cities named after such Russian historical figures as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky or Leo Tolstoy. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as part of de-Russification of Ukraine, Russian movies, books and music were banned and monuments to Russian and Russian-Ukrainian personalities such as Mikhail Bulgakov were removed.

Energy market

Since Soviet times, the Ukrainian power grid has been part of a single network that includes Belarus and Russia. In February 2021, Dmitry Kuleba said that Ukraine plans to disconnect from the power grid with Belarus and Russia by the end of 2023. At the same time, the Foreign Minister stated that Ukraine wants to make the Ukrainian power grid an integrated part of the European network. At midnight on February 24, the Ukrainian power system was disconnected from the power system of Russia and Belarus.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Russia-Ukraine Relations Russia–Ukraine relations, Bilateral relations of Russia, Ukraine Bilateral relations of Ukraine Articles containing video clips

History of relations

Kievan Rus'

Muscovy and the Russian Empire

Ukrainian People's Republic and Ukrainian State

Soviet Union

Ukrainian People's Republic

Holodomor

Ukrainian independence

1990s

Nuclear disarmament

Crimea, Sevastopol, and division of the Black Sea Fleet

Economics

2000s

Second Tymoshenko government

2010s

Viktor Yanukovych presidency

Economic integration and Euromaidan

Annexation of Crimea and war in eastern Ukraine

Continued deterioration of relations

Volodymyr Zelenskyy presidency

2020s

History post Russian invasion

2022

2023

2024

Border

Armaments and aerospace industries

Popular opinion and philosophy

In Russia

In Ukraine

Treaties and agreements

Territorial disputes

Cultural relations

Removal of Russian street names and monuments across Ukraine

Energy market

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links