It is the first time an incumbent has been defeated in a presidential election in a former Soviet republic. July 10, 1994: Kuchma Becomes Presidentįormer Prime Minister Leonid Kuchma defeats incumbent President Leonid Kravchuk. However, thirteen former partnership members eventually join the alliance. As the Cold War ended, Russia had opposed the eastern expansion of NATO. Russia becomes a member that June and conducts various cooperative activities with NATO, including joint military exercises, until 2014, when NATO formally suspends ties. Ukraine and Hungary become the fifth and sixth members of the partnership. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) welcomes Ukraine into its Partnership for Peace, a collaborative arrangement open to all non-NATO European countries and post-Soviet states. READ MORE: A Historical Timeline of Afghanistan February 8, 1994: Ukraine Joins NATO’s Partnership for Peace

readiness to assist Ukraine in dismantling the launchers, and specifies security assurances Ukraine will receive once it accedes to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) as a non–nuclear weapons state. The statement also confirms Russian readiness to compensate Ukraine for the value of the highly enriched uranium in the warheads, notes U.S. presidents sign a statement that reaffirms Ukraine’s commitment to transfer all strategic nuclear warheads to Russia and dismantle strategic launchers in its territory. 1994 January 14, 1994: Securing Nuclear Warheads Ukraine had the second-largest population and economy of the fifteen Soviet republics. Russian threats have intensified as Ukraine’s ties with the United States and Europe have improved in recent years.īelow is a timeline of major historical events over the last 30 years: 1991 December 1, 1991: Ukraine Votes for IndependenceĪmid the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine votes for independence in a referendum, with 92 percent of Ukrainians supporting independence, and elects Leonid Kravchuk as president. Ukraine has been dogged by corruption scandals, economic mismanagement, and Russian interference since it achieved independence in 1991.

2020 ukraine yanukovych