On February 24th, 2022 Russia announced an all out invasion in Ukraine. This invasion has both a cultural impact on Ukraine while also creating tensions between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Russia. Russia’s tensions with NATO are not new and have been an ongoing issue since German unification. While NATO played a large role in the unification of Germany in the 1990s, so did Russia. Russia worked closely with these nations to create a new environment within Europe. Instead of joining the treaty organization, Russia moved closer by joining NATO’s Partnership for Peace in 1994 and signing the NATO-Russia Founding Act in 1997 to encourage cooperation. However, relations worsened in the late 1990s when NATO admitted Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, which Russia saw as a violation of a 1990 agreement and an intrusion into its sphere of influence. Ukraine borders against Russia, Poland, Moldova, and Belarus; giving a unique perspective within the country as it has both Russian influence and strong NATO influence.
After Ukraine gained independence, disputes arose over Crimea, the Black Sea fleet, and the role of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). In 1994, President Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine was elected. During his presidency, Ukraine transferred its nuclear arsenal to Russia under the Trilateral Statement, joined the NATO Partnership for Peace, entered the Council of Europe, and signed a cooperation agreement with NATO. In 1997, Russia and Ukraine signed the Treaty of Friendship, recognizing Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and Russia leased Sevastopol for twenty years.
In 2004, the presidential election between Viktor Yanukovych and Viktor Yushchenko in Ukraine led to mass protests and a second election, which Yushchenko won. His presidency sought closer ties with NATO and the EU but was marked by political instability. In 2010, Yanukovych was elected president, moved closer to Russia, and abandoned NATO accession. In 2013, he suspended plans for an EU agreement, sparking mass protests. In 2014, after violent crackdowns and political crisis, Yanukovych fled to Russia and was removed from office.
Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014 following a vote by the Crimean parliament. Russian-backed separatists seized buildings in eastern Ukraine, sparking conflict. Ceasefires were attempted through the Minsk Accords (2014 and 2015), but fighting continued due to violations on both sides. Volodymyr Zelensky was elected president of Ukraine in 2019 and initiated withdrawals along the contact line. In late 2021, Russia mobilized forces near Ukraine and issued security demands to NATO, which were rejected.
On February 21, 2022, Russia recognized the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and deployed troops. On February 24, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Initial advances toward Kyiv were repelled, and Russian forces withdrew from northern Ukraine by April 2022. Fighting continued in the Donbas and southern Ukraine. In particular, fighting in the Donetsk Oblast has been constant. The region is rich in natural resources and the infrastructure to refine those materials into industrial products. The conflict has strained global supplies of steel and some gases from the region. The conflict has also severely impacted global food supplies as both Russia and Ukraine contribute substantial amounts of fertilizer and grain respectively to the world. Missile and drone strikes targeting the infrastructure of both nations threaten civilian power supplies and even nuclear reactors, threatening much of Europe with radiological fallout should critical components be destroyed.
In February 2025 the United Nations Security Council issued a brief resolution, S/RES/2774, in which the council implored for a swift end to the conflict and a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine. Now nine months since that resolution, with no end to the conflict in sight, the issue comes before the Security Council once again, in hopes that the body may find some one way to end the conflict.
Focus Questions:
- Countries on both sides of the conflict are supplying arms and material for the war efforts, is there a way to reduce the flow of those supplies and slow the conflict without giving an advantage to either side?
- How has the Security Council handled open conflict in the past? Are there lessons from elsewhere that can be applied here?
- What are the root causes of this conflict? Can those causes be addressed by the UNSC?
Useful Links:
Maps of Ukraine/Russia Frontlines and Natural Resources (August 2025)
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/critical-importance-ukraine%E2%80%99s-fortress-belt-donetsk-oblast
Al Jazeera: Ukraine-Russia crisis: What is the Minsk agreement?
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/9/what-is-the-minsk-agreement-and-why-is-it-relevant-now
CNN: Visualizing how Ukraine has changed in the 3 years since Russia’s full-scale invasion
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/23/world/charts-ukraine-war-status-dg/
