THE UKRAINE CRISIS: RUSSIAN INVOLVEMENT AND UN

ACTIONS

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Ukraine is a country of eastern Europe. It is a former Soviet Republic, that declared
independence from the USSR in 1991. In the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, Ukraine
gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange of a commitment by Russia to respect its borders.
Although a majority of its populations is ethnically Ukrainian, a strong minority is
Russian (20%). In addition, the pro-Russian sentiment in Ukraine is still strong, especially
in the eastern regions of the country.
The Crimea peninsula, located in southern Ukraine, was added to Ukraine by Soviet
President Khrushchev in 1954 for administrative concerns. Three main ethnic groups live
there: Ukrainians, Russians, and the pro-Ukrainian Tatars.

TIMELINE

2010: Pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych wins the presidential election.

NOVEMBER 2013: President Yanukovych abandons an important trade

agreement with the EU, favoring closer ties with Russia instead. Large
demonstrations of protesters take place in Kiev. Police cracks down on protesters.

JANUARY 2014: Parliament passes restrictive anti-protest laws. As protests turn

deadly, Parliament annuls the anti-protest laws, and opposition activists end their
occupation of administrative buildings in exchange of the release of protesters.

FEBRUARY 2014: As violence keeps escalating, President Yanukovych signs

compromise deal with opposition leaders. However, Parliament removes
Yanukovych from power and names an interim President, Turchnyov. Yatsnenyuk
becomes prime minister.

MARCH 2014:
Russia's growing involvement
Russia's parliament approves the use of force in Ukraine to defend Russian
interests, and Russian forces take over Crimea.
Crimea's parliament votes to join Russia. A referendum over Crimea's
secession shows that 97% of voters are willing to join Russia. Consequently,
Russia annexes the Ukrainian region of Crimea.

 As a result, the EU and US impose and extend economic and diplomatic

sanctions on Russia.
The United Nations actions:
Because of Russia's veto, the UN Security Council is unable to pass a
resolution condemning Crimea's secession referendum in Crimea. Indeed,
unanimity is the decision-making rule in the UN Security Council.
To overcome this gridlock, the UN General Assembly adopts the resolution
68/262, entitled Territorial integrity in Ukraine. Indeed, a two-third
majority is required to pass a resolution in the UN General Assembly, which
allows Russia's opposition to be overcome. The resolution affirms the United
Nations commitment to recognize Crimea withing Ukraine's international
borders, emphasizes the invalidity of the 2014 Crimean referendum, and
rejects Russia's use of force to alter its borders.

APRIL 2014
Following Crimea's annexation by Russia, unrest begins growing in Ukraine,
where pro-Russian sentiment is strong. Pro-Russian protesters organize massive
protests in many eastern-Ukrainian cities, calling for a referendum of
independence. Ukraine's interim President Turchynov organizes an anti-terrorist
operation against pro-Russian separatists.
After negotiation talks in Geneva, Russian, Ukraine, the US and the EU say they
have agreed on steps to de-escalate the crisis in eastern Ukraine.

MAY 2014
Apparently shifting its policy, President Putin calls for referendums in eastern
Ukraine to be postponed and to encourage dialogue.
But pro-Russian separatists of eastern Ukraine declare independence after
referendums which were not recognized by Kiev or the West.
Ukraine holds presidential elections, and Petro Poroshenko is elected president.
He vows to bring peace to a united and free Ukraine.

EARLY JUNE 2014: Russia's draft resolution to the UN Security Council

Russia submits a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council calling for an
immediate cease-fire in Ukraine, and the creation of humanitarian corridors in
the east of the country.
Ukraine and its Western allies underline the hypocrisy of Russia, that they accuse
of actually encouraging a pro-Russian uprising that threatens to break up the
country. Moreover, they insist that the crisis is political and not humanitarian.

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