A number of foreign leaders have visited Ukraine during the Russian invasion, meeting with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and other officials, and visiting areas around the country. This list only includes heads of state and government that visited Ukraine while serving as the head of state or government.
State | Head of state and/or government | Date(s) of visit(s) | Details of visit(s) | References |
---|---|---|---|---|
Albania | Edi Rama | June 15, 2022 | [1] | |
Australia | Anthony Albanese | July 3, 2022 | [2] | |
Austria | Karl Nehammer | April 9, 2022 | Nehammer was the first leader of a neutral country to visit Ukraine during the invasion. Two days later, he became the first European leader to visit Russia during the invasion. | [3] |
Alexander Van der Bellen | February 1, 2023 | [4] | ||
Belgium | Alexander De Croo | November 26, 2022 | [5] | |
February 24, 2024 | [6] | |||
Bulgaria | Kiril Petkov | April 28, 2022 | [7] | |
Canada | Justin Trudeau | May 8, 2022 | Trudeau was the first non-European leader to visit Ukraine during the invasion. | [8] |
June 10, 2023 | [9] | |||
February 24, 2024 | [6] | |||
Croatia | Andrej Plenković | May 8, 2022 | [10] | |
March 31, 2023 | [11] | |||
Czech Republic | Petr Fiala | March 15, 2022 | [12] | |
October 31, 2022 | [13] | |||
Petr Pavel | April 28, 2023 | [14] | ||
Comoros | Azali Assoumani | June 16, 2023 | [15] | |
Denmark | Mette Frederiksen | April 21, 2022 | [16] | |
January 30, 2023 | [17] | |||
Egypt | Mostafa Madbouly | June 16, 2023 | [15] | |
Estonia | Alar Karis | April 13, 2022 | [18] | |
June 2, 2023 | [19] | |||
Kaja Kallas | April 24, 2023 | [20] | ||
Finland | Sanna Marin | May 26, 2022 | [21] | |
March 10, 2023 | [22] | |||
Sauli Niinistö | January 24, 2023 | [23] [24] | ||
Petteri Orpo | August 23, 2023 | [25] | ||
Alexander Stubb | April 3, 2024 | [26] | ||
France | Emmanuel Macron | June 16, 2022 | [27] | |
Germany | Olaf Scholz | June 16, 2022 | [27] | |
Frank-Walter Steinmeier | October 25, 2022 | [28] [29] | ||
Greece | Katerina Sakellaropoulou | November 3, 2022 | [30] | |
Kyriakos Mitsotakis | March 6, 2024 | Russia launched a missile attack that landed approximately 500 to 800 metres (0.31 to 0.50 mi) from the delegation while visiting Odesa. | [31] | |
Guatemala | Alejandro Giammattei | July 25, 2022 | Giammattei was the first Latin American leader to visit Ukraine during the invasion. | [32] |
Guinea-Bissau | Umaro Sissoco Embaló | October 26, 2022 | Embaló, who is also Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), was the first African leader to visit Ukraine during the invasion. | [33] |
Hungary | Katalin Novak | November 26, 2022 | [5] | |
August 22, 2023 | [34] | |||
Iceland | Katrín Jakobsdóttir | March 14, 2023 | [35] | |
Indonesia | Joko Widodo | June 29, 2022 | Jokowi was the first Asian leader to visit Ukraine during the invasion. On June 30, he met with Vladimir Putin in Moscow. [36] | [36] |
Ireland | Micheál Martin | July 6, 2022 | [37] | |
Leo Varadkar | July 19, 2023 | [38] | ||
Italy | Mario Draghi | June 16, 2022 | [27] | |
Giorgia Meloni | February 21, 2023 | [39] | ||
February 24, 2024 | [6] | |||
Japan | Fumio Kishida | March 21, 2023 | [40] [41] | |
Latvia | Egils Levits | April 13, 2022 | [18] | |
September 9, 2022 | [42] | |||
March 3, 2023 | [43] | |||
Krišjānis Kariņš | March 16, 2023 | [44] | ||
Lithuania | Ingrida Šimonytė | November 26, 2022 | [5] | |
Gitanas Nausėda | April 13, 2022 | [18] | ||
July 28, 2022 | [45] | |||
January 11, 2023 | [46] | |||
June 28, 2023 | [47] | |||
Luxembourg | Xavier Bettel | June 21, 2022 | [48] | |
Moldova | Maia Sandu | June 27, 2022 | [49] | |
March 31, 2023 | [50] | |||
Natalia Gavrilița | December 6, 2022 | [51] | ||
Montenegro | Dritan Abazović | June 15, 2022 | [1] | |
Netherlands | Mark Rutte | July 11, 2022 | [52] | |
February 17, 2023 | [53] | |||
Norway | Jonas Gahr Støre | July 1, 2022 | [54] | |
Poland | Mateusz Morawiecki | March 15, 2022 | [12] | |
June 1, 2022 | [55] | |||
September 9, 2022 | [42] | |||
November 26, 2022 | [5] | |||
February 24, 2023 | [56] | |||
July 7, 2023 | [57] | |||
Andrzej Duda | April 13, 2022 | [18] [58] | ||
May 22, 2022 | ||||
August 23, 2022 | ||||
January 11, 2023 | ||||
June 28, 2023 | [47] | |||
Donald Tusk | January 22, 2024 | [59] | ||
Portugal | António Costa | May 21, 2022 | [60] | |
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa | August 23, 2023 | [61] | ||
Qatar | Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani | July 28, 2023 | [62] | |
Romania | Nicolae Ciucă | April 26, 2022 | [63] | |
Klaus Iohannis | June 16, 2022 | [27] | ||
Senegal | Macky Sall | June 16, 2023 | [15] | |
Slovakia | Eduard Heger | April 8, 2022 | [64] | |
March 31, 2023 | [11] | |||
Zuzana Čaputová | May 31, 2022 | [65] | ||
April 28, 2023 | [14] | |||
Slovenia | Janez Janša | March 15, 2022 | [12] | |
Robert Golob | March 31, 2023 | [11] | ||
South Africa | Cyril Ramaphosa | June 16, 2023 | [15] | |
South Korea | Yoon Suk Yeol | July 15, 2023 | [66] | |
Spain | Pedro Sánchez | April 21, 2022 | [16] | |
February 23, 2023 | [67] | |||
July 1, 2023 | [68] | |||
Sweden | Magdalena Andersson | July 4, 2022 | [69] | |
Ulf Kristersson | February 15, 2023 | [70] | ||
Switzerland | Ignazio Cassis | October 20, 2022 | [71] | |
Alain Berset | November 25, 2023 | [72] | ||
Turkey | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan | August 18, 2022 | [73] | |
United Kingdom | Boris Johnson | April 9, 2022 | [74] | |
June 17, 2022 | [75] | |||
August 24, 2022 | [76] | |||
Rishi Sunak | November 19, 2022 | [77] [78] | ||
January 12, 2024 | [79] | |||
United States | Joe Biden | February 20, 2023 | [80] [81] [82] | |
Zambia | Hakainde Hichilema | June 16, 2023 | [15] | |
Japanese-Ukrainian relations are formal diplomatic relations between Japan and Ukraine. Japan extended diplomatic recognition to the Ukrainian state on December 28, 1991, immediately after the breakup of the Soviet Union and full diplomatic relations were established on January 26, 1992.
Israel–Ukraine relations are foreign relations between Israel and Ukraine. Both countries recognized each other on 11 May 1949 as the Ukrainian SSR and established de jure diplomatic relations on 26 December 1991 when Ukraine became independent. Israel has an embassy in Kyiv. Ukraine has an embassy in Tel Aviv and a consulate-general in Haifa. There are 30,000 Ukrainians settled in Israel, while Ukraine has one of Europe's largest Jewish communities. Ukraine is also the first state, apart from Israel, to have had both a Jewish president and prime minister simultaneously.
Brazil and Ukraine are strategic partners and cooperate in trade, space technology, education, energy, healthcare, and defense. Brazil recognized Ukraine's independence on December 26, 1991, and bilateral relations were established on February 11, 1992. The development of a joint space industry had strengthened the bilateral ties between the two countries. Ukraine considers Brazil its key trade partner in Latin America and has been a vocal supporter of the Brazilian bid for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council.
Ukraine–Vietnam relations are the bilateral relations between Ukraine and Vietnam. Vietnam recognized Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union on 27 December 1991. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on 23 January 1992. The embassy of Vietnam in Ukraine started its operations in 1993, and the embassy of Ukraine in Vietnam was opened in 1997.
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Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy is a Ukrainian politician and former actor who has been serving as the sixth president of Ukraine since 2019.
Events in the year 2021 in Ukraine.
There have been several rounds of peace talks to halt the Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022–present) and end the Russo-Ukrainian War (2014–present) in an armistice. The first meeting was held four days after the start of the invasion, on 28 February 2022, in Belarus. It concluded without result, with delegations from both sides returning to their capitals for consultations. A second and third round of talks took place on 3 and 7 March 2022, on the Belarus–Ukraine border, in an undisclosed location in the Gomel region of Belarus. A fourth and fifth round of talks were respectively held on 10 and 14 March in Antalya, Turkey.
U-24 is an intergovernmental peacekeeping organization proposed by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy aimed at quickly ending armed conflicts between countries. It was first voiced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his speech to the U.S. Congress on 16 March 2022.
During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made a number of speeches in multiple formats, including on social media and to foreign legislatures. The speeches have received significant attention, with a number of commentators citing a positive effect on Ukrainian morale and on international support for Ukrainian resistance to the invasion.
"Iron diplomacy" refers to the practice of transporting world leaders from Poland through Ukraine via rail since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The expression was coined by Oleksandr Kamyshin, the head of Ukrainian Railways, because many diplomats were being shuttled by train to and from Kyiv, the capital city, as the use of Ukrainian airspace was impractical due to the invasion. In addition, the first foreign leaders to visit Kyiv had decided to avoid travelling from Poland to Ukraine via a Polish military jet, in case Russia interpreted it as an escalating move. The journeys, including US President Joe Biden's 2023 visit, begin in Poland with a flight to Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport and then transfer to Przemyśl Główny railway station, where the visiting leaders board an overnight train to Kyiv.
In November 2021, top Ukrainian government officials outlined allegations of a plot to overthrow the democratically elected government of Ukraine which was to take place in early December of that year. The coup plot was allegedly orchestrated by Russia. The Russian government denied any involvement. Some months later, Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine, with the toppling of the Ukrainian government being one of its objectives.
Events in the year 2023 in Ukraine.
The Walk of the Brave was laid in Kyiv on the initiative of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the 31st anniversary of Ukraine's independence. The place was not chosen by chance, because it was on the Constitution Square opposite the Verkhovna Rada.
On 8 February 2023, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, visited the United Kingdom. During his trip, Zelenskyy met Rishi Sunak, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. He also addressed Members of Parliament from Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament and had an audience with King Charles III. It was Zelenskyy's second trip outside Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, after his December 2022 visit to the United States.
In May 2023, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, made multiple unannounced trips to many European countries. On 3 May, Zelenskyy travelled to Finland, where he met with the four prime ministers of the Nordic countries. On 4 May, Zelenskyy travelled to the Netherlands, meeting with the prime ministers of Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as visiting the International Criminal Court.
Estonia and Ukraine established diplomatic relations on 4 January 1992. Relations between the two countries have remained consistently close, largely in part due to shared concerns of any aspirations of the Russian Federation. Estonia is a member of the European Union, which Ukraine applied for in 2022. Both countries are full members of the Council of Europe.
Events in the year 2024 in Ukraine.
On 6 March 2024, a Russian missile exploded in Odesa, Ukraine near President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis during a meeting between the two, killing five people.