In 2008, NATO promised Ukraine that one day it would join the alliance.
Moscow:
Russia has been beefing up troops near Ukraine and the West has threatened economic sanctions if it mounts an invasion. Moscow denies planning an invasion but has demanded that the West ensure security in a tense situation.
Below is a timeline of key events in Ukraine’s political history since it gained independence from Moscow in 1991.
* 1991: Leonid Kravchuk, leader of the Ukrainian Republic of the Soviet Union, declared independence from Moscow. In a referendum and presidential election, Ukrainians approved of independence and elected president of Kravchuk.
* 1994: Leonid Kuchma defeats Kravchuk in a presidential election that is considered largely free and fair by observers.
* 1999: Kuchma was re-elected in 1999 in an irregular vote.
* 2004: Pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovich is declared president but accused of vote rigging triggers protests during the Orange Revolution, forcing a re-election of the vote. A former pro-Western prime minister, Viktor Yushchenko, was elected president.
* 2005: Yushchenko comes to power with the promise to take Ukraine out of the Kremlin’s orbit, towards NATO and the EU. He appointed former director of the energy company Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister, but after infighting in the pro-Western camp, she was fired.
* 2008: NATO promises Ukraine will one day join the alliance.
* 2010: Yanukovich defeats Tymoshenko in a presidential election. Russia and Ukraine reached an agreement on gas prices in exchange for extending a port lease for the Russian navy at a port in Ukraine’s Black Sea.
* 2013: Yanukovich’s government suspends trade and association talks with the EU in November and chooses to restore economic ties with Moscow, sparking months of protests in Kyiv.
* 2014: Protests, mainly centered around Kyiv’s Maidan square, turn violent. Dozens of protesters were killed. In February, parliament voted to remove Yanukovich, who had fled. Within days, armed men took over parliament in Ukraine’s Crimea region and raised the Russian flag. Moscow annexed the territory after a March 16 referendum showed overwhelming support in Crimea for joining the Russian Federation.
– In April, pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Donbass region declared independence. The outbreak of fighting continued sporadically, despite a regular cease-fire, into 2022.
– In May, businessman Petro Poroshenko won the presidential election with a pro-Western agenda.
– In July, a missile brought down passenger plane MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 people on board. The weapons used were traced back to Russia by investigators, which denied involvement.
* 2017: The association agreement between Ukraine and the EU opens up a free market for trade in goods and services, and visa-free travel to the EU for Ukrainians.
* 2019: A new Ukrainian Orthodox church gains official recognition, angering the Kremlin.
– Former comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy defeated Poroshenko in the presidential election in April on a promise to tackle corruption and end the war in eastern Ukraine. His Servant of the People party won the parliamentary elections in July.
– US President Donald Trump asked Zelenskiy in July to investigate Joe Biden, his opponent in the US presidential race, and Hunter, Biden’s son, about possible business dealings in Ukraine. The call resulted in an unsuccessful attempt to impeach Trump.
* March 2020 – Ukraine begins its first lockdown to limit COVID-19.
*June 2020 – IMF approves a $5 billion bailout to help Ukraine stave off default during the pandemic-induced recession.
* January 2021 – Zelenskiy urges Biden, now president of the United States, to let Ukraine join NATO.
* February 2021 – Zelenskiy’s government imposes sanctions on Viktor Medvedchuk, an opposition leader and most prominent Kremlin ally in Ukraine.
* Spring 2021 – Russia moves troops closer to Ukraine’s border in what it says are exercises.
*October 2021 – Ukraine uses a Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone for the first time in eastern Ukraine, angering Russia.
* Fall 2021 – Russia begins to gather troops near Ukraine again.
* December 7 – Biden warns Russia of economic sanctions against the West if it invades Ukraine.
* December 17 – Russia issues detailed security requirements, including a legally binding guarantee that NATO will abandon any military operations in Eastern Europe and Ukraine.
* January 10 – US and Russian diplomats fail to bridge differences over Ukraine.
* January 14 – A cyberattack warning Ukrainians to “fear and expect the worst” hits Ukrainian government websites.
* January 17 – Russian forces begin arriving in Belarus, north of Ukraine, for joint exercises.
* January 24 – NATO puts forces on standby and reinforces Eastern Europe with more ships and fighters.
* January 26 – Washington issues a written response to Russia’s security demands, repeating its commitment to NATO’s “open door” policy while offering “pragmatic” discussions. about Moscow’s concerns.
* January 28 – President Vladimir Putin says that Russia’s main security requirements remain unresolved.
* February 2 – The United States says it will send 3,000 more troops to Poland and Romania to help protect NATO allies in Eastern Europe from any impact from the crisis.
* February 4 – Putin, at the Beijing Winter Olympics, wins China’s support for demanding that Ukraine not be allowed to join NATO.
* February 7 – French President Emmanuel Macron sees some hope for a diplomatic solution to the crisis following a meeting with Putin in the Kremlin. Macron later visited Kyiv and praised Zelenskiy and the Ukrainian people’s “luxury”.
*February 9 – Biden says “things can get crazy fast” as the US State Department advises Americans in Ukraine to leave immediately. Other countries also urged their citizens to leave.
* February 14 – Zelenskiy urges Ukrainians to fly the flag and sing the national anthem in unison on February 16, the date on which some Western media suggest Russia may invade.
* February 15 – Russia says some of its troops are returning to base after exercises near Ukraine and mocks Western warnings of an impending invasion. Russia’s parliament asked Putin to recognize two independent Russian-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.
* February 18 – US Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Michael Carpenter says Russia may have increased its staff by around 169,000-190,000 in and near Ukraine.
* February 19 – Russia’s Strategic Nuclear Forces hold drills overseen by Putin.
* February 21 – President Macron of France says Biden and Putin have agreed in principle to hold a summit on Ukraine. The Kremlin said Putin will sign a decree recognizing two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent entities shortly.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a press release)
