UkraineUnited States relations – Wikipedia
The United States officially recognized the independence of Ukraine on December 25, 1991. The United States upgraded its consulate in the capital, Kyiv, to embassy status on January 21, 1992.[1] In 2002, relations between the United States and Ukraine deteriorated after one of the recordings made during the Cassette Scandal revealed an alleged transfer of a sophisticated Ukrainian defense system to Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Following the 2014 annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, the USA became one of the largest defense partners of Ukraine.[2]
The current ambassador of the United States to Ukraine is Bridget A. Brink.[3] The current Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States is Oksana Markarova.[4]
As of 2009, the United States supports Ukraine's bid to join NATO.[5]
According to documents uncovered during the United States diplomatic cables leak, American diplomats defend Ukrainian sovereignty in meetings with other diplomats.[6][7][8]
Ukrainians have generally viewed the U.S. positively, with 80% expressing a favorable view in 2002, and 60% in 2011.[9] According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 33% of Ukrainians approve of U.S. leadership, with 26% disapproving and 41% uncertain.[10]
In the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea, the United States began to supply military aid to Ukraine.[11] This continued after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine with the US massively increasing its supply of military aid,[12] with US President Joe Biden heavily condemning the invasion and pledging support to Ukraine.[13] In December 2022, during a surprise visit to Washington, President Zelenskyy gave a speech to a joint session of Congress. He thanked the Congress and the American people for the support, and stated the resolve for victory in the war.[14]
Informal relations between the United States and Ukrainian nationalists date back to the early days of the Cold War, when the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) cooperated with the Ukrainian independence movement in the Soviet Union, many of whom were former fascist collaborators. In the early 1950s, the CIA dropped nearly 85 Ukrainian agents in a clandestine operation over Soviet territory, where they were supposed to spark a nationalist uprising in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The operation proved a failure, however, and two-thirds of the agents were immediately captured or killed. The Americans, however, did not realize the failure of the operation until several years later.[15]
The United States enjoys cordially friendly and strategic relations with idependent Ukraine and attaches great importance to the success of Ukraine's transition to a democracy with a flourishing market economy.[citation needed] Following a period of economic decline characterized by high inflation and a continued reliance on state controls, the Ukrainian government began taking steps in the fall of 1999 to reinvigorate economic reform that had been stalled for years due to a lack of a reform majority in the Ukrainian parliament. The Ukrainian government's stated determination to implement comprehensive economic reform is a welcome development in the eyes of the US government, and the U.S. is committed to supporting Ukraine in continuing on this path. Bilateral relations suffered a setback in September 2002 when the federal government of the U.S. announced it had authenticated a recording of President Leonid Kuchma's July 2000 decision to transfer a Kolchuga early warning system to Iraq. The Government of Ukraine denied that the transfer had occurred. Ukraine's democratic Orange Revolution has led to closer cooperation and more open dialogue between Ukraine and the United States. U.S. policy remains centered on realizing and strengthening a democratic, prosperous, a primary recipient of FSA assistance. Total U.S. assistance since independence has been more than $3 billion. U.S. assistance to Ukraine is targeted to promote political and economic reform and to address urgent humanitarian needs. The U.S. has consistently encouraged Ukraine's transition to a democratic society with a prosperous market-based economy.
In November 2006, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) selected Ukraine to be eligible to apply for compact assistance. Ukraine already participates in the MCC Threshold Program, and in December 2006 signed a $45 million Threshold Program agreement. This program, which began implementation in early 2007, aims to reduce corruption in the public sector through civil society monitoring and advocacy, judicial reform, increased government monitoring and enforcement of ethical and administrative standards, streamlining and enforcing regulations, and combating corruption in higher education. Ukraine is beginning the process of developing a Compact proposal, and successful implementation of the Threshold Program will be necessary before the MCC will enter into a Compact with Ukraine.
The U.S. maintains an embassy in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, and Ukraine maintains an embassy in the American capital Washington, D.C.
In addition to diplomatic support in its conflict with Russia, the U.S. provided Ukraine with US$1.5 billion in military aid from 2014 to 2019.[2] In 2021, The Sunday Times reported that the amount of military aid given was US$2.5 billion.[16]
In January 2022, the U.S. put 5,0008,500 troops on high alert as tensions escalated in the Russo-Ukrainian War,[17] expressing willingness to further help defend Ukraine before and when Russia launched its invasion a month later.[18][19] The United States provided nearly $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine in 2021 and 2022, up to the first week of the invasion.[11] Such aid included offensive weapons and sharing intelligence with the Ukrainian military.[12][20][21] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly sent thanks to American leaders for the support.[22][23]
In the 2022 State of the Union Address, which was attended by Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova, U.S. President Joe Biden heavily criticized the invasion and pledged American support for Ukraine. American public opinion also heavily shifted towards supporting Ukraine following the invasion.[24]
In May 2022, the U.S. Senate confirmed Bridget Brink to serve as ambassador to coincide with the reopening of the US embassy in Kyiv after it had closed due to the invasion.[3] On December 21st, 2022 Zelenskyy made his first foreign trip since the invasion to Washington DC. After meeting with President Biden, he gave a speech to a joint session of congress. The speech included references to FDR's declaration of war on Japan and thanked the American congress and people for their support of Ukraine.[25]
During the Ukrainian independence movement, on August 1, 1991, then-U.S.-President George H. W. Bush made a speech critical of the movement which James Carafano subsequently described as "what may have been the worst speech ever by an American chief executive".[26]
On 18 February 2009 the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea sent a letter to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the President of Ukraine in which it stated that it deemed it inexpedient to open a representative office of the United States in Crimea and it urged the Ukrainian leadership to give up this idea. The letter will also be sent[when?] to the Chairman of the UN General Assembly. The letter was passed in a 77 to 9 roll-call vote with one abstention.[27]
In 2012 the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations passed Resolution 466, calling for the unconditional release of political prisoner Yulia Tymoshenko and implemented a visa ban against those responsible.[28] The resolution condemned the administration of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych (in office: 20102014) and asked NATO to suspend all cooperative agreements with Ukraine.[29] In response, First Deputy General Prosecutor of Ukraine Renat Kuzmin wrote a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, complaining that his visa was revoked.[30]
The Euromaidan protests resulted in the election of the pro-EU president Petro Poroshenko and then the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014. Poroshenko requested military aid from the United States. President Barack Obama was reluctant to arm a relatively corrupt military that was recently used against anti-democracy protestors, and saw the mistaken shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 by Russian-armed separatists as an example of the dangers of supplying arms to Ukraine.[11] Though the U.S. had sanctioned Russia and refused to recognize the annexation, after a year Obama declined to provide the requested lethal aid (such as FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missiles and F-16 fighter jets.[11] The Obama administration did supply $600 million of non-lethal military aid from 2014 to 2016, including vehicles, training, body armor, and night-vision goggles.[11]
In 2017, President Donald Trump approved $47 million of Javelin anti-tank missile and missile launchers; these were not allowed to be deployed but kept in storage as a strategic deterrent against Russian invasion.[11]
In 2018 the U.S. House of Representatives passed a provision blocking any training of Azov Battalion of the Ukrainian National Guard by American forces, citing its neo-Nazi background. In previous years, between 2014 and 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives passed amendments banning support of Azov, but due to pressure from the Pentagon, the amendments were quietly lifted.[31][32][33]
On April 25, 2018, 57 members of the House of Representatives, led by Ro Khanna,[34] released a condemnation of Holocaust distortion in Ukraine.[35] They criticized Ukraine's 2015 memory laws glorifying Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and its leaders, such as Roman Shukhevych.[36] The condemnation came in an open bipartisan letter to Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan.[37]
In summer 2019, Trump froze $400 million in military aid to Ukraine which had been approved by Congress,[11] an aid package which was the subject of a phone conversation that Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on July 25. On August 12, 2019, an anonymous whistleblower submitted a complaint to U.S. Inspector General Michael Atkinson that stated that Trump had allegedly attempted to pressure Zelenskyy into launching an investigation on former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, during the phone call.[38] On September 24, 2019, the United States House of Representatives initiated an impeachment inquiry against Trump.[39] Trump held a meeting with Zelenskyy in New York City on September 25 where both presidents stated that Zelenskyy had not been pressured during the July phone call and that nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.[40] Trump was impeached by the House, but later acquitted in the Senate trial and continued as President until the end of his term.
From May 2019 to May 2022 the USA did not have an ambassador to Ukraine.[41][42][3]
See more here:
UkraineUnited States relations - Wikipedia
- Ukraine war briefing: Analysts flag Kremlin scare campaign against use of Tomahawks - The Guardian - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- How Ukraine Turned the Tables on Russia - The Atlantic - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Russia escalates warning as Trump considers sale of Tomahawks to Ukraine - The Washington Post - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- News: Five NATO Allies support medical rehabilitation in Ukraine, 07-Oct.-2025 - NATO - Homepage - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Beyond FPVs: Learning the Lessons of the Ukraine WarAll of Them - Modern War Institute - - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Russia says prospects for Ukraine peace deal now faded as its war rages on - Al Jazeera - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Renowned Architect Gunned Down in St. Petersburg in Suspected Murder by Ukraine War Veteran - The Moscow Times - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Ukraine war latest: Kyiv denies involvement in case of Ukrainian detained in Poland over Nord Stream sabotage - The Kyiv Independent - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Opinion | What if a Russian victory in Ukraine were only the beginning? - The Washington Post - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Russia says impetus for peace in Ukraine after Putin-Trump summit has been exhausted - Reuters - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Putin says Russia has captured nearly 5,000 square km in Ukraine this year - Reuters - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Ukraine says a massive Russian overnight missile and drone barrage was packed with 100,000 foreign-made parts - Business Insider - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Rattled Russia threatens US, Ukraine over Tomahawk missiles: We will find ways to hurt those who cause us trouble - New York Post - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Russian regions are massively boosting military sign-up bonuses to lure more people to fight in Ukraine - CNN - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Zelenskiy says Ukraine inflicts frontline losses on Russian troops in Donetsk region - Yahoo - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- A Snapback Solution for Ukraine: How to Craft Security Guarantees That Kyivand MoscowWill Find Credible - Foreign Affairs - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Russia is ramping up Shahed-type drone strikes on the front line in Ukraine - The Kyiv Independent - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Ohio native, former police officer killed in Ukraine - Spectrum News - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Ukraine just broke cover on its newest homemade Neptune missile. It's bulked up with the latest upgrades. - MSN - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Ukraine says a massive Russian overnight missile and drone barrage was packed with 100,000 foreign-made parts - MSN - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Former Kent police officer dies while fighting in Ukraine - Cleveland 19 News - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Thales Anti-Drone Rockets Now Being Used In Ukraine - The War Zone - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Ukraine just broke cover on its newest homemade Neptune missile. It's bulked up with the latest upgrades. - Business Insider - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Ukraine war latest: Zelensky accuses West of zero real reaction to attack on Lviv - The Independent - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Trump pivoted on Ukraine birthright citizenship could be next - The Hill - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- What to know about the Tomahawk cruise missiles Trump says he might give Ukraine - Business Insider - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Ukraine war latest: Putin gets birthday card from Kim Jong Un - with message revealed - Sky News - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Former Kent Police officer dies in Ukraine - News 5 Cleveland WEWS - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Captured Tajik tells of life on Ukraine frontlines alongside Russian forces - Yahoo - October 9th, 2025 [October 9th, 2025]
- Merkel: Poland and Baltics partly responsible for Ukraine invasion - The Telegraph - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Ukraine's Donetsk region seen as Russias gateway, not the ultimate prize in war - ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Merkel blasted by Baltics, Poland for suggesting they share blame for Russias Ukraine invasion - politico.eu - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Trump says he's "sort of made a decision" on supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine - Axios - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Ukraine-Russia war latest: British parts found in Russian drones used to attack Lviv, says Zelensky - The Independent - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Drones, Democracy and the War in Ukraine - The New York Times - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Ukraine war briefing: Trump says he would want to know Kyivs plans for Tomahawk missiles before supplying them - The Guardian - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Czech president presses parties to keep aid for Ukraine after critics win election - Reuters - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Europe is making a cheap anti-drone rocket for Ukraine that blasts a cloud of steel balls - Business Insider - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky accuses West of zero real reaction to massive Russian attack that killed five - The Independent - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- 'I want to find out what they're doing with them' Trump mulls sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine - The Kyiv Independent - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- 'Putin lied to Trump and made him look weak,' former US envoy to Ukraine says - Euronews.com - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Ukraine's path to EU will be tough, with or without Hungarian hurdle - Reuters - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Kremlin, asked if China is sharing satellite intel for Ukraine, says Moscow has its own capabilities - Reuters - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Exclusive: Citing Cuban fighters in Ukraine, US urges allies to shun Havana at UN - Reuters - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Ukraine says it has struck oil terminal in Crimea and key Russian explosives factory - Sky News - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Milrem Robotics to Deliver over 150 THeMIS UGVs to Ukraine i - ASDNews - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Russia says it downed 251 Ukraine drones overnight, including one heading towards Moscow - France 24 - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Poland hands over 16-year-old alleged agent to Ukraine - Notes From Poland - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Ukraine claims strike on 'one of Russia's largest' explosives plants far from the front lines - The Kyiv Independent - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Antoni Lallican, a French photojournalist killed in Ukraine, was 'insatiably curious and truly interested in others' - Le Monde.fr - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- AI on the Front Lines: How Artificial Intelligence Is Reinventing Battlefield Medicine in Ukraine - ZME Science - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Russian attacks kill 1, injure 33 in Ukraine over past day - The Kyiv Independent - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Zelensky Says Ukraine Will Join EU With or Without Orbn - Kyiv Post - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Ukraine's Donetsk region seen as Russias gateway, not the ultimate prize in war - The Independent - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Ukraine War, Day 1,321: Kyiv Strikes Key Facilities in Russia and Occupied Crimea - EA WorldView - October 7th, 2025 [October 7th, 2025]
- Trumps Drone Deal With Ukraine to Give U.S. Access to Battlefield Tech - The Wall Street Journal - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Ukraine war live: Putin says impossible to believe Moscow wants a war with Nato - The Independent - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- NATO allies are betting on tanks, even as exploding drones are wiping them out in Ukraine - Business Insider - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Russian strike hits train station in Ukraine, killing one and injuring 30 - Reuters - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Czech support for Ukraine at stake as populist Babi poised to return in an election - ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Ukraine-Russia war latest: Huge explosion in attack on Kyiv gas facilities after Putin warns Trump of escalation - The Independent - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Opinion | I learned these survival skills in Ukraine. The West might need them. - The Washington Post - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Europe needs to get serious about threat posed to it by Russia, Ukraine minister says - The Guardian - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- French journalist killed by drone in Ukraine, photo agency says - CNN - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Czechia's populist Ano party wins parliamentary elections, threatening future aid to Ukraine - The Kyiv Independent - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Ukraine Blows Up Key Russian Oil Hub in Overnight StrikeWarship and Missile Base Also Hit - UNITED24 Media - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Putin praises Trump but warns supplies of US long-range missiles to Ukraine will badly hurt ties - AP News - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Ukraine and Russia exchange strikes in escalating attacks on energy sites - TRT World - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Trump's Claim That Ukraine Can Win Back Territoy Isn't Wrong - RealClearDefense - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Russian strike hits train station in Ukraine, killing 1 and injuring 30 - TribLIVE.com - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Person killed in drone attack as Ukraine accuses Russia of targeting passenger trains - The Guardian - October 4th, 2025 [October 4th, 2025]
- Ukraine war live: Zelensky warns of Chernobyl global threat after Russian shelling - The Independent - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Ukraine war latest: US to 'share intelligence' with Kyiv on long-range targets in Russia - as European leaders meet to discuss war - Sky News - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Russia says EU proposal on loan and reparations to Ukraine is crazy, will draw tough response - Reuters - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- US to give Ukraine intelligence on long-range energy targets in Russia, say reports - The Guardian - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Russia Issues Blunt Warning to Trump on Tomahawks for Ukraine - Newsweek - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Russias war in Ukraine has been built on a foundation of falsehoods - GOV.UK - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Kremlin says US already gives Ukraine intelligence on a regular basis - Reuters - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Balancing the Scales: Survivors Needs and Rights and Criminal Accountability in Ukraine - Just Security - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]
- Defeat of Ukraine would embolden China towards Taiwan, Taiwanese officer says in Poland - Reuters - October 2nd, 2025 [October 2nd, 2025]