While tensions on the Ukraine-Russia border have been simmering for a long time, here is a timeline of notable developments over the past decade that have culminated in the current escalation of tensions on the Ukraine-Russia border. .
2013: Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was under strong economic pressure from Russia not to join the European Union. And he pulled out of talks with the EU at the last minute, after insisting for a year on his intention to sign a historic political and trade agreement aimed at creating closer political and economic ties and fostering economic growth. between the nations of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, including Ukraine. It sparked weeks of violent protests in Kyiv.
2014 : In March 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, an autonomous peninsula in southern Ukraine with strong Russian loyalties, on the pretext that it was defending its interests and those of Russian-speaking citizens.
2015 : Soon after, pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Lugansk regions declared independence from Kiev, sparking months of heavy fighting. Although Kyiv and Moscow signed a peace accord in Minsk in 2015, brokered by France and Germany, there have been repeated violations of the ceasefire.
According to UN figures, there have been more than 3,000 conflict-related civilian deaths in eastern Ukraine since March 2014.
The European Union and the United States have imposed a series of measures in response to Russian actions in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, including economic sanctions targeting specific individuals, entities and sectors of the country. Russian economy.
The Kremlin accuses Ukraine of stoking tensions in the east of the country and violating the Minsk ceasefire agreement.
What happens now: The United States and NATO have described troop movements and concentrations in and around Ukraine as “unusual”.
No less than 100,000 Russian soldiers remained massed on the Ukrainian border. US intelligence findings in December estimated that Russia could launch a military offensive in Ukraine “as early as 2022”.
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