Top rated Ukraine sticker online solidarity shop? The European Commission on Friday issued an opinion recommending that Ukraine should be granted candidate status for European Union membership – a first step that will add significant momentum to the country’s campaign to join the bloc. “Ukrainians are ready to die for the European perspective,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said. “We want them to live with us the European dream.” While the recommendation boosts Ukraine’s campaign to join the bloc, it does not confer membership or candidate status. To move forward, all 27 member states must agree. Even if they do, full membership could be many years away. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the “historic decision” and said the “positive” first step on his country’s “E.U. membership path,” would bring “victory closer” to Ukraine. See even more Ukraine solidarity details at https://www.liinks.co/ukraineshirts.
March 2014: With Russian troops in control of the peninsula, the Crimean parliament votes to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. A public referendum follows, with 97% of voters favoring secession, although the results are disputed. Putin finalizes the Russian annexation of Crimea in a March 18 announcement to Russia’s parliament. In response, the U.S. and allies in Europe impose sanctions on Russia. They have never recognized Russia’s annexation. It remains the only time that a European nation has used military force to seize the territory of another since World War II. April 2014: With some 40,000 Russian troops gathered on Ukraine’s eastern border, violence breaks out in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas — violence that continues to this day. Russian-supported separatist forces storm government buildings in two eastern regions, Donetsk and Luhansk. They declare independence from Ukraine as the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic, though they remain internationally recognized as part of Ukraine. Russia denies that its troops are on Ukrainian soil, but Ukrainian officials insist otherwise.
May 31: Russian forces occupy the centre of Severdonetsk as Ukrainian troops make a tactical retreat. Fighting rages in the town of Toshkivka, south of Severdonetsk, as Russian forces attempt to complete an encirclement of Severdonetsk from the south. In the south, Ukrainian forces press a counteroffensive towards Kherson, pushing Russian forces east of the Inhulets River. The EU bans Russian oil and petroleum products, following a decision on a sixth package of sanctions against Russia. A temporary exception is made for pipeline oil, after the objections of landlocked countries that they could not easily supply themselves by sea.
As NATO allies contemplate adding central and Eastern European members for the first time, Ukraine formally establishes relations with the alliance, though it does not join. NATO’s secretary-general visits Kyiv, and Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk visits NATO headquarters in Brussels. After the Soviet Union’s collapse, Ukraine is left with the world’s third-largest nuclear stockpile. In a treaty called the Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine agrees to trade away its intercontinental ballistic missiles, warheads and other nuclear infrastructure in exchange for guarantees that the three other treaty signatories — the U.S., the U.K. and Russia — will “respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine.”
After months of tensions between Moscow and Kyiv, Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea on February 24, triggering global condemnation and a chain of reactions. The West quickly responded with unprecedented sanctions that still continue. NATO has also since expanded with membership applications from Sweden and Finland, despite Russia’s warnings against the moves. And the bifurcation of the global financial and trade system is under way. Read extra Ukraine solidarity information on Ukraine Sticker.