Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is the President of Russia since 2012, previously holding the position from 2000 until 2008. In between his presidential terms, he was also the Prime Minister of Russia under president Dmitry Medvedev.
Petru Lucinschi is a former Moldovan politician who was Moldova's second President (1997–2001).
Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who served as the fifth President of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019.
Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk is a Ukrainian politician, economist and lawyer who served as the 13th Prime Minister of Ukraine from 27 February 2014 to 14 April 2016.
The bilateral relationship between Russia and Ukraine formally started in the 1990s immediately upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union, of which both Russia and Ukraine had been founding constituent republics.
The President of Ukraine is the Ukrainian head of state. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. The president is directly elected by the citizens of Ukraine for a five-year term of office, limited to two terms consecutively.
Igor Dodon is a Moldovan politician who has been the President of Moldova since 23 December 2016, though his powers and duties have been temporarily suspended by the Constitutional Court since 9 June 2019. Previously he was the leader of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova. He served as Minister of Trade and Economics in the governments of Vasile Tarlev and Zinaida Greceanîi from September 2006 to September 2009 and was a member of the Parliament of Moldova from 2009 to 2016.
Maia Sandu is a Moldovan politician serving as Prime Minister of Moldova since 8 June 2019.
Euromaidan was a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on the night of 21 November 2013 with public protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kiev. The protests were sparked by the Ukrainian government's decision to suspend the signing of an association agreement with the European Union, instead choosing closer ties to Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union. The scope of the protests soon widened, with calls for the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovych and his government. The protests were fueled by the perception of "widespread government corruption", "abuse of power", and "violation of human rights in Ukraine". Transparency International named President Yanukovych as the top example of corruption in the world. The situation escalated after the violent dispersal of protesters on 30 November, leading to many more protesters joining. The protests led to the 2014 Ukrainian revolution.
The Ukrainian revolution of 2014 took place in Ukraine in February 2014, when a series of violent events involving protesters, riot police, and unknown shooters in the capital, Kiev, culminated in the ousting of the elected Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, and the overthrow of the Ukrainian Government.
From the end of February 2014, demonstrations by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place in major cities across the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, in the aftermath of the Euromaidan movement and the 2014 Ukrainian revolution. During the first stage of the unrest, Crimea was annexed by the Russian Federation after a Russian military intervention, and an internationally criticized Crimean referendum. Protests in Donetsk and Luhansk regions (oblasts) escalated into an armed pro-Russian separatist insurgency. From late 2014, cities outside of the Donbass combat zone, such as Kharkiv, Odessa, Kiev and Mariupol, were struck by bombings that targeted pro-Ukrainian unity organizations. To maintain control over southeastern territories Ukraine's government started "antiterrorist operation" (ATO) sending armed forces to suppress separatists. Armed conflict between Ukraine's government forces and pro-Russian rebels is known as War in Donbass.
The future enlargement of the Eurasian Economic Union is theoretically open to any of the Post-Soviet states and potentially any country of Europe or Asia. In order to accede, a state must fulfill certain economic and political requirements. Enlargement of the Union is also subject to the consent of all existing members and the candidate's adoption of existing EEU laws and implementing previous decisions made by the Eurasian Economic Commission. The present agenda of the enlargement of the Eurasian Economic Union is primarily focused on Tajikistan. Meanwhile, Moldova was granted Observer Status in April 2017. The process of enlargement is referred to as Eurasian integration or Eurasianism. This term is also used to refer to the intensification of economic cooperation between Eurasian Economic Union member states.
The Gaburici Cabinet was the Cabinet of Moldova from 18 February to 30 July 2015. It consisted of ministers from the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) and the Democratic Party (PDM), who together formed the Political Alliance for a European Moldova. The Cabinet was installed after a successful vote of confidence held in the Parliament of Moldova on 18 February 2015. It was a minority government.
The Political Alliance for a European Moldova was the pro-European governing coalition in Moldova from 18 February to 24 July 2015. On 24 July 2015 the Liberal Party joined a new majority coalition.
The Streleț Cabinet was the Cabinet of Moldova from 30 July to 29 October 2015. It consisted of ministers from the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM), the Democratic Party (PDM) and the Liberal Party (PL), who together formed the Alliance for European Integration III. The Cabinet was installed after a successful vote of confidence held in the Parliament of Moldova on 30 July 2015. It was dismissed by Parliament on 29 October amid ongoing protests, lasting 3 months. A new cabinet was formed only on 20 January 2016; until then the Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs Gheorghe Brega was acting Prime Minister.
Alliance for European Integration III was the ruling coalition in Moldova from 24 July 2015 to January 2016.
Starting in the spring of 2015, Moldova experienced large-scale protests amid a worsening economic situation and corruption scandals. The protests gained momentum in September, when up to 100,000 people demonstrated in the largest protest since Moldova's independence from the Soviet Union in August 1991.
