∙ In December 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. With the resignation of Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, the Union was dismantled. The following 15 countries were independent federal republics after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

1. Armenia 2. Azerbaijan 3. Belarus 4. Estonia

5. Georgia 6. Kazakhstan 7. Kyrgyzstan 8. Latvia 9. Lithuania

10. Moldova 11. Russia 12. Tajikistan 13. Turkmenistan

14. Ukraine 15. Uzbekistan

…On February 5, 1995, George Kennan (1904-2005), “architect of the Soviet containment policy” after World War II, warned the NY Times that “NATO’s” expansion eastward would be a fatal mistake. It could ruin the democracy that has finally sprouted in Russia and relegate it, once again, to an adversary of the West.”

In March 1999, NATO’s first round of eastward expansion (Poland, Czech Republic, and Hungary) began to expand eastward in defiance of Kennan’s warnings. (U.S. administration of Clinton 1993-2001)

▪ December 17, 2013, Ukraine-Russia agreement signed. President Yanukovych signed with Russia on loans and agreements amounting to billions of dollars.

The background is that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine experienced stagnant economic growth, and in the 2000s it sought to establish good relations with the European Union (EU), but was unable to be included in EU integration due to economic difficulties. Out of necessity, it tried to get closer to Russia.

On February 21, 2014, the Ukrainian uprising (Euro-Maidan Revolution) broke out in the capital city of Kiev. Violent clashes between the government side and protesters resulted in the ouster of then-President Viktor Yanukovych and his exile to neighboring Russia.

The side of the Euromaidan movement was the winner. A new government was formed (the first Yatsenyuk government), which signed the EU Agreement and agreed to reform the country’s judicial system, political, fiscal, and economic policies, and the International Monetary Fund pledged more than $18 billion in loans on condition that the reforms be implemented.

Meanwhile, Russia positioned the collapse of the Yanukovych regime as a coup d’état and, after the uprising, intervened militarily in Ukraine (Crimean Crisis). Ukrainian troops clashed with Russian forces (pro-Russian militants and anti-Ukrainian government organizations) on the Crimean Peninsula (Autonomous Republic of Crimea) and in the Donbass region (Donetsk and Luhanshik Oblasts) on the Ukrainian mainland.

A January 28, 2014 telephone conversation between United States Assistant Secretary of State Nuland and U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Ukraine Payet, who claimed that they were discussing the appointment of a new government after the fall of the Yanukovych regime, revealed that it was the United States that led the anti-government protests in Ukraine The United States was the leader of the anti-government protests in Ukraine.

▪ In the fall of 2021, Russia began massing its forces on the Ukrainian border (Russia-Ukraine crisis), and on February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. (ongoing)