Research Briefing

16 April 2025

By Nigel Walker
Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline
(current conflict, 2022-present)

Summary
1 24 February 2022 – May 2022
2 June - August 2022
3 September - November 2022
4 December 2022 – February 2023
5 March – May 2023
6 June – August 2023
7 September – December 2023
8 2024
9 2025

commonslibrary.parliament.uk
Number CBP-9847 Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

Image Credits
Attribution: OSCE SMM monitoring of heavy weaponry, Ukraine 16705750566
by OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine – Wikimedia Commons page.
Licensed by Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) / image
cropped.

Disclaimer
The Commons Library does not intend the information in our research
publications and briefings to address the specific circumstances of any
particular individual. We have published it to support the work of MPs. You
should not rely upon it as legal or professional advice, or as a substitute for
it. We do not accept any liability whatsoever for any errors, omissions or
misstatements contained herein. You should consult a suitably qualified
professional if you require specific advice or information. Read our briefing
‘Legal help: where to go and how to pay’ for further information about
sources of legal advice and help. This information is provided subject to the
conditions of the Open Parliament Licence.

Sources and subscriptions for MPs and staff

We try to use sources in our research that everyone can access, but
sometimes only information that exists behind a paywall or via a subscription
is available. We provide access to many online subscriptions to MPs and
parliamentary staff, please contact hoclibraryonline@parliament.uk or visit
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/resources for more information.

Feedback
Every effort is made to ensure that the information contained in these publicly
available briefings is correct at the time of publication. Readers should be
aware however that briefings are not necessarily updated to reflect
subsequent changes.

If you have any comments on our briefings please email

papers@parliament.uk. Please note that authors are not always able to
engage in discussions with members of the public who express opinions
about the content of our research, although we will carefully consider and
correct any factual errors.

You can read our feedback and complaints policy and our editorial policy at
commonslibrary.parliament.uk. If you have general questions about the work
of the House of Commons email hcenquiries@parliament.uk.

2 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

Contents

Summary 4

1 24 February 2022 – May 2022 5

2 June - August 2022 32

3 September - November 2022 39

4 December 2022 – February 2023 50

5 March – May 2023 62

6 June – August 2023 73

7 September – December 2023 81

8 2024 88

9 2025 100

3 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

Summary

The current conflict in Ukraine began on 24 February 2022 when Russian

military forces entered the country from Belarus, Russia and Crimea.

Prior to the invasion, there had already been eight years of conflict in eastern
Ukraine between Ukrainian Government forces and Russia-backed
separatists.

This paper provides a timeline of the major events that happened in the
conflict in Ukraine since the 2022 Russian invasion.

A timeline covering events during the prior eight years is available in

Commons Library research briefing CBP-9476, Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline
(2014 - eve of 2022 invasion).

Note: There was a change of government in the UK following the General

Election on 4 July 2024. All references to the Prime Minister and other
ministers, and UK government policies, are correct as of the date of each
entry.

Note: On 20 January 2025 the Trump administration took office in the US. All
references to the US President and cabinet secretaries, and US government
policies, are correct as of the date of each entry.

4 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

 Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

1 24 February 2022 – May 2022

Key events
24 February 2022: In an early morning address on Russian
state television, President Putin announces Russian forces
will carry out “a special military operation” in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy introduces martial law and
closes Ukraine’s airspace.
25 February 2022: President Zelenskyy decrees a full
military mobilisation and all men aged 18-60 are forbidden
from leaving Ukraine.
The UN Security Council rejects a draft resolution intended to
end Russia’s military action after Russia uses its veto.
27 February 2022: President Zelenskyy announces Ukraine
has filed a lawsuit against Russia to the UN International
Court of Justice at the Hague.
President Putin orders Russia’s nuclear deterrence forces to
be put on high alert.
28 February 2022: Russian forces launch rocket attacks that
kill “dozens” of civilians in Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv,
and begin a renewed assault on the capital Kyiv.
President Zelenskyy signs an official request for Ukraine to
join the EU immediately under a special procedure.
1 March 2022: President Zelenskyy urges Western nations to
enforce a “no-fly zone” over Ukraine.
2 March 2022: Russian forces in Ukraine move to tighten
their siege of key cities, including the capital, Kyiv, and the
southern port of Mariupol.
The UN General Assembly votes overwhelmingly for a
resolution deploring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and calling
for the immediate withdrawal of its forces.
The UK and 37 other countries formally refer reports of
atrocities committed in Ukraine to the International Criminal
Court (ICC).

5 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

3 March 2022: A fire breaks out at a nuclear power plant in

Zaporizhzhia, after shelling by Russian forces.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence says the Russian advance on
Kyiv has been delayed by “staunch Ukrainian resistance,
mechanical breakdown and congestion”.
4 March 2022: NATO’s Secretary-General rejects a “no-fly
zone” over Ukraine.
7 March 2022: Ukraine rejects an offer from Russia to create
“humanitarian corridors”, after it emerges most of the
routes lead directly to Russia or its ally, Belarus.
8 March 2022: President Zelenskyy broadcasts live to the
House of Commons.
10 March 2022: The UK announces sanctions against seven
Russian businessmen, including Roman Abramovich.
11 March 2022: The UK announces asset freezes and travel
bans on 386 members of the Russian Duma.
15 March 2022: The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic
and Slovenia travel to Kyiv on an EU mission to show support
for Ukraine.
16 March 2022: The International Court of Justice orders
Russia to stop its invasion, saying it has not seen any
evidence to support the Kremlin’s justification to attack
Ukraine.
18 March 2022: President Putin addresses a large crowd at
Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium, marking the eighth anniversary
of Crimea’s annexation.
7 April 2022: The UN General Assembly votes to suspend
Russia’s membership in the UN Human Rights Council.
6 May 2022: The UN Security Council issues its first
statement on the war in Ukraine, but withholds from using
the words “war”, “conflict” or “invasion”.
12 May 2022: Finland’s President and Prime Minister endorse
their country’s application to join NATO.
16 May 2022: The Swedish government confirms it intends to
apply for membership of NATO.

6 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

24 February 2022 In an early morning address (just before 3am, UK

time) on Russian state television, President Putin
announces Russian forces will carry out “a special
military operation” in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy then makes an urgent

national address, introducing martial law, while
urging people to remain calm. Ukraine’s airspace is
also closed.

Zelenskyy decrees a full military mobilisation against

the Russian military action, as he criticises the West
and says Ukraine is being left on its own to fight
Russia.

In a statement to the House of Commons on the

situation in Ukraine, the Prime Minister updates
Members on Russia’s “onslaught” and announces a
further package of sanctions and asset freezes on
Russian entities and individuals.

The Foreign Office publishes further details of the

sanctions to be imposed and the Foreign Secretary
summons the Russian Ambassador over Russia’s
“unprovoked and unjustified attack on Ukraine”. The
Home Secretary, meanwhile, announces visa
concessions for Ukrainians.

In an address to the nation, Prime Minister Boris

Johnson says: “President Putin of Russia has
unleashed war in our European continent,” and
pledges to continue working “to ensure that the
sovereignty and independence of Ukraine is
restored”.

25 February 2022 Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, gives an

early morning address and confirms multiple reports
of Russian missile strikes. He again asserts that his
country has been left to fight Russia alone, saying:
“We have been left alone to defend our state. Who is
ready to fight alongside us? I don’t see anyone. Who
is ready to give Ukraine a guarantee of NATO
membership? Everyone is afraid.”

President Zelenskyy decrees a full military

mobilisation and all men aged 18-60 are forbidden
from leaving Ukraine.

The 47-nation Council of Europe announces Russia

will be suspended with “immediate effect” from the

7 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

organisation’s Committee of Ministers and

parliamentary assembly, “as a result of the Russian
Federation’s armed attack on Ukraine.”

The UN Security Council rejects a draft resolution

intended to end Russia’s military action against
Ukraine. The draft, submitted by Albania and the
United States, wins support from 11 member states
but Russia’s veto ensures the draft resolution falls.
China, India and the United Arab Emirates all
abstain.

The leaders of NATO Member States meet to discuss

Russia’s attack on Ukraine; additional deployments
to the alliance’s eastern flank are announced. The
Prime Minister outlines details of the UK’s new offer
to NATO.

In a third wave of sanctions in four days, the UK

Government announces Russian President Vladimir
Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be hit
with an assets freeze.

The Prime Minister addresses a NATO leaders’

meeting in the afternoon, to update allies on the UK’s
next steps following Russia’s bombardment of
Ukraine.

26 February 2022 Fierce fighting breaks out in Kyiv as Russian forces try
to push their way towards the city centre from
multiple directions. President Zelenskyy rejects a US
offer to evacuate him from the Ukraine’s capital.

The US, Canada and key European countries agree to

remove “selected Russian banks” from the Swift
payment system.

27 February 2022 Responding to claims that the Russia is “ready for

talks” with Ukraine, President Zelenskyy says his
country is ready for peace talks with Russia, but not
in Belarus. He describes the country as a staging
ground for Russia’s invasion.

President Putin makes a televised address, saluting

the “heroism” of Russian special forces in what he
describes as a “special operation to provide
assistance to the people’s republics of the Donbas”.

8 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

President Zelenskyy announces Ukraine has filed a

lawsuit against Russia to the UN International Court
of Justice at the Hague.

The UN Refugee Agency says the number of people

fleeing Ukraine has reached 368,000, and more than
4.5 million more could follow if the fighting spreads.
There are also reports of tens of thousands on the
move within the country itself.

President Putin orders Russia’s military to put the

country’s nuclear deterrence forces on high alert in
response to “aggressive statements” by NATO
countries.

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary-General, responds

to Putin’s move: “This is dangerous rhetoric. This is a
behaviour which is irresponsible.”

A referendum in Belarus reportedly approves a new

constitution renouncing the country’s non-nuclear
status. The move theoretically allows Russia to place
nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil for the first time
since the country gave them up after the fall of the
Soviet Union.

The UN Security Council votes to call for a rare

emergency special session of the UN General
Assembly the following day, to discuss Russia’s
military operation in Ukraine. The vote follows the
veto of the draft Security Council resolution by Russia
on 25 February.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces £40m of

additional aid will be released to provide vital
medical supplies and other help to Ukraine.

28 February 2022 Forty Ukrainian civil society groups come together to

call on the West to establish safe zones for refugees
inside Ukraine, and provide technology to help
document Russian war crimes as part of a plan to
make Russia’s President Putin and his inner circle
face justice at the International Criminal Court.

The first round of Ukraine-Russia talks aimed at

ending the fighting between Russia and its neighbour
conclude with no immediate agreement.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in

The Hague announces he will launch an investigation
into possible war crimes or crimes against humanity

9 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

in Ukraine. The move comes amid mounting evidence

of Russia’s use of indiscriminate cluster munitions on
Ukrainian cities.

President Zelenskyy signs an official request for

Ukraine to join the European Union immediately
under a special procedure.

Turkey, a NATO member with good ties to both

Russia and Ukraine, pledges to implement parts of
an international pact that would potentially limit the
transit of Russian warships from the Mediterranean
to the Black Sea.

1 March 2022 President Zelenskyy tells the European Parliament

Ukraine is “giving away its best people for a desire to
be treated as equals” and for the price of freedom.
He calls on EU member states to prove their loyalty
to Ukraine.

Russia’s defence ministry warns Kyiv residents to

leave their homes as it plans to strike targets in the
Ukrainian capital.

President Zelenskyy urges Western nations to enforce

a “no-fly zone” as a measure to stop any further
bombardment by Russia, but the US rules out such a
measure.

The UK Government pledges a further £80 million in

aid to help Ukraine deal with humanitarian crisis and
announces further sanctions against Russia,
including banning Russian ships from UK ports and
additional economic measures. The Foreign
Secretary also unveils the first tranche of sanctions
against Belarusian individuals and organisations, in
response to Belarus’ role in supporting Russia’s
military action against Ukraine.

2 March 2022 The UN votes overwhelmingly for a resolution

deploring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and calling for
the immediate withdrawal of its forces. The
emergency session of the UN’s General Assembly
sees 141 of the 193 member states voting for the
resolution, 35 abstaining, and five voting against. The
five countries voting no were Russia, Belarus, North
Korea, Eritrea and Syria.

10 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

The UK and 37 other countries formally refer reports

of atrocities committed in Ukraine to the
International Criminal Court (ICC).

Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for

Refugees, says more than one million people have
fled Ukraine since Russian forces invaded the country
a week earlier.

3 March 2022 A war crimes investigation is launched into Russia’s

invasion of Ukraine, after an unprecedented number
of countries backed the move. Karim Khan, chief
prosecutor for ICC, says he will begin work “as
rapidly as possible” to look for possible crimes
against humanity or genocide committed in Ukraine.

In a second round of talks, Ukraine and Russia agree

to create humanitarian corridors to evacuate
civilians.

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy calls for direct talks

with the Russia’s President Putin, saying it is “the only
way to stop this war”.

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss announces sanctions

against Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Igor
Shuvalov, with a full asset freeze and travel ban
imposed.

4 March 2022 President Zelenskyy appeals to Europe for help

following the attack on the Ukrainian nuclear plant
and accuses Russia of nuclear terrorism, saying; “For
the first time in the history of humankind, the
terrorist state commits nuclear terrorism.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) puts

its Incident and Emergency Centre in “full 24/7
response mode” due to the “serious situation”
unfolding at Zaporizhzhia.

NATO foreign ministers discuss a “no-fly zone” over

Ukraine but, speaking after the meeting, the NATO
Secretary-General says: “Allies agree that we should
not have NATO planes operating over Ukrainian
airspace or NATO troops on Ukrainian territory.”

President Zelenskyy criticises NATO’s decision,

saying: “The alliance has given the green light to the
bombing of Ukrainian cities and villages by refusing
to create a no-fly zone.” He adds: “All the people

11 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

who die from this day forward will also die because
of you, because of your weakness, because of your
lack of unity.”

5 March 2022 The UK urges British nationals to consider leaving

Russia if their presence in the country is not
essential.

A planned evacuation from Mariupol and Volnovakha

is thrown in chaos as Russia continues to attack
despite agreeing a humanitarian corridor.

President Putin describes sanctions imposed by

Western nations over his invasion of Ukraine as "akin
to a declaration of war".

He also says Russia will consider any country that

imposes a no-fly zone over Ukraine as having entered
the conflict: “Any movement in this direction will be
considered by us as participation in an armed
conflict by that country.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson issues a six-point plan

which he hopes will ensure Russia fails in its military
action against Ukraine:

1. we must mobilise an international humanitarian

coalition
2. we must do more to help Ukraine to defend itself
3. we must maximise the economic pressure on Mr
Putin’s regime
4. no matter how long it takes, we must prevent
any creeping normalisation of what Russia does
in Ukraine
5. we should always be open to diplomacy and de-
escalation
6. we must act now to strengthen Euro-Atlantic
security

6 March 2022 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks with

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, who tells him
Beijing opposes any moves that “add fuel to the
flames” in Ukraine.

David Arakhamia, one of Ukraine’s negotiators, says

his country is not willing to compromise on its
territorial integrity in talks but Russia, but is open to
discussing “non-NATO models” for its future.

12 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRS)

says the safe passage of civilians from Ukraine’s
besieged eastern port city of Mariupol is “halted” for
a second consecutive day.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces the UK will

provide $100 million to Ukraine’s government
through the World Bank.

President Zelenskyy addresses the people of Ukraine,

warning Russian troops he will punish those who
commit atrocities in Ukraine: “We will not forgive. We
will not forget. We will punish everyone who
committed atrocities in this war on our land.”

7 March 2022 Ukraine rejects an offer from Russia to create

“humanitarian corridors”, allowing civilians to flee
six heavily bombed Ukrainian cities, after it emerges
most of the supposedly safe routes lead directly to
Russia or its ally, Belarus.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry says Russian shelling is

preventing the evacuation of civilians from Kyiv,
Mariupol, Sumy, Kharkiv, Volnovakha and Mykolayiv.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, estimates as

many as five million Ukrainians will flee the country if
Russia’s bombing campaign continues.

The UN’s refugee agency notes more than 1.7 million

Ukrainians have already crossed into central Europe.

The third round of Russian-Ukrainian talks end with

the delegations reporting some positive signs but no
breakthrough. Mykhailo Polodnyak, an adviser to
President Zelenskyy, says there has been some
“small positive developments in improving the
logistics of humanitarian corridors”.

The US Ambassador to the Organisation for Security

and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Michael
Carpenter, accuses Belarus of “stabbing [its]
neighbour in the back”, and describes Belarus as
being a “co-aggressor” in Russia’s military action in
Ukraine.

The UK Ambassador to the OSCE, Neil Bush, calls out

the Russian government for lying about their plan to
invade Ukraine and expresses UK solidarity with the
Ukrainian people.

13 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister, Oleksander

Kubrakov, says Ukraine has suffered about $10 billion
in damage to infrastructure since Russia launched
military action against the country.

At a joint press conference in the UK, Prime Minister

Boris Johnson makes a statement alongside Dutch
Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Canadian Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau. They pledge additional aid
for Ukraine and announce a new ‘International
Ukraine Support Group’ to coordinate the efforts of
the international community in providing long term,
unwavering assistance.

In a US Department of Defence briefing, an official

says Russia has now committed almost 100% of the
forces it had amassed for the attack on Ukraine: an
estimated 127 battalion tactical groups. The official
also explains the US has assessed that Russia has
launched over 625 missiles, mostly short and medium
range surface to air missiles and cruise missiles.

In a meeting of the UN Security Council, UK

Ambassador Barbara Woodward praises Ukraine’s
resistance and accuses President Putin of “directing
a campaign of violence and cruelty against civilians”.

8 March 2022 In a Facebook post, the chief of staff of Ukraine’s

armed forces says they are fighting back against the
invasion all over the country.

Russia reportedly opens humanitarian corridors from

Kyiv, Cherhihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol so that
civilians can be evacuated.

The number of refugees fleeing Ukraine reaches two

million, according to the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees, Filippo Grandi. Ukraine’s ministry of
foreign affairs reports 12,000 Russian personnel have
been killed in its latest assessment of their losses to
date.

Chinese President Xi Jinping calls for peace and

“maximum restraint to prevent a massive
humanitarian crisis” in Ukraine, but stops short of
criticising Russia or its president directly.

In an unprecedented address broadcast live to the

House of Commons, President Zelenskyy echoes

14 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

Winston Churchill as he asks the UK to do more to

help Ukraine.

9 March 2022 The US Department of Defence dismisses a plan by

Poland to give the US its MiG-29 fighter jets to boost
Ukraine’s fight against Russia.

Russia accuses the US of declaring an economic war

on the country and warned it is working on a broad
response to Western sanctions.

The UK announces a series of new aviation sanctions,

giving the government power to detain any Russian
aircraft in the UK.

President Zelenskyy says the international community

will be responsible for a mass “humanitarian
catastrophe” if it does not agree a no-fly zone to
protect Ukraine.

Ukrainian authorities say Russian bombs have

“completely destroyed” a children’s and maternity
hospital in Mariupol, as shelling again halts mass
evacuations from several cities.

In Washington, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss meets

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US National
Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to discuss what more
the UK and US can do to support Ukraine on security,
intelligence, and humanitarian issues.

10 March 2022 Russia’s foreign ministry is quoted as saying Russia

will no longer participate in the Council of Europe.

Sergey Lavrov and Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign

ministers of Russia and Ukraine respectively, meet in
Turkey. The meeting is notable in that the Ukrainian
side indicate they are prepared for an alternative to
NATO membership, provided the country is given
security and economic guarantees underwritten by
the West and Russia.

The UK announces sanctions against seven Russian

businessmen, including Roman Abramovich and Oleg
Deripaska.

In response to an Urgent Question in the House of

Commons, the Home Secretary pledges to streamline

15 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

the online visa application system for Ukrainian

refugees.

The US Congress passes a spending bill late in the

evening. This includes $13.6bn in emergency aid for
Ukraine for humanitarian, defence and economic
assistance, and for sanctions enforcement.

11 March 2022 The Versailles Summit (in which the Heads of

Government of the EU, the President of the European
Council and the President of the European
Commission address the war in Ukraine and the
consequences for the EU in terms of sovereignty)
meets for a second day.

In a statement published at the end of the summit,

the leaders pledge to support Ukraine in pursuing EU
membership:

On 28 February 2022, exercising the right of

Ukraine to choose its own destiny, the President of
Ukraine submitted the application of Ukraine to
become a member of the European Union.

The Council has acted swiftly and invited the

Commission to submit its opinion on this
application in accordance with the relevant
provisions of the Treaties. Pending this and without
delay, we will further strengthen our bonds and
deepen our partnership to support Ukraine in
pursuing its European path. Ukraine belongs to our
European family.

President Putin gives the green light for up to 16,000

volunteers from the Middle East to join Russian-
backed rebels fighting in eastern Ukraine.

The UK Government announces asset freezes and

travel bans on 386 members of the Russian Duma
who voted to recognise the independence of two
territories in Ukraine, Luhansk and Donetsk.

The UN Security Council meets, at Russia’s request,

to discuss Moscow’s claims that the US is funding
“military biological activities” in Ukraine. The UN’s
High Representative of Disarmament Affairs tells the
Security Council the UN is not aware of any such
biological weapons programmes.

12 March 2022 Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov

warns the West against sending arms to Ukraine,

16 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

saying Moscow will consider arms shipments as

“legitimate targets”.

In a 75-minute phone call with President Putin, the

French President and German Chancellor call for an
immediate ceasefire. A French official says the
Russian president showed no willingness to end the
war.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warns

Russia may use chemical weapons following its
invasion of Ukraine and that such a move would be a
war crime:

In recent days, we have heard absurd claims about

chemical and biological weapons laboratories.

Now that these false claims have been made, we

must remain vigilant because it is possible that
Russia itself could plan chemical weapons
operations under this fabrication of lies. That
would be a war crime.

13 March 2022 In an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation, US National

Security Adviser Jake Sullivan warns Russia will pay a
“severe price” if it uses chemical weapons in Ukraine.

He says: “The use of weapons of mass destruction

would be a shocking additional line that Putin is
crossing in terms of his assault on international law
and international norms.”

14 March 2022 Further talks between Russia and Ukraine take place.
President Zelenskyy says: “Our goal is that in this
struggle, in this difficult negotiating work, Ukraine
will get the necessary result… for peace and for
security.”

15 March 2022 The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and

Slovenia travel to Kyiv on an EU mission to show
support for Ukraine. They are the first Western
visitors to the city since Russia’s military operations
began three weeks earlier.

The Kremlin announces it has put the US President,

Secretary of State and other top officials on a “stop
list” that bars them from entering Russia. The ban
comes in response to sanctions imposed by
Washington on Russian officials.

17 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

The number of Ukrainians fleeing abroad passes

three million, data from the UN Refugee Agency
shows.

16 March 2022 A peace deal under which Ukraine abandons its

NATO aspirations in return for Russian withdrawal
and Western security guarantees moves closer.
Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, says:
“Neutral status is now being seriously discussed
seriously along, of course, with security guarantees.
This is what is now being discussed at the talks.
There are absolutely specific wordings and, in my
view, the sides are close to agreeing on them.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses

the US Congress, remotely from Kyiv. Zelenskyy calls
on President Biden to be a leader for peace and
repeats his calls for a no-fly zone to be imposed over
Ukraine.

The UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The

Hague orders Russia to stop its invasion, saying it
has not seen any evidence to support the Kremlin’s
justification for the war: that Ukraine was committing
genocide against Russian-speakers in the east of the
country.

The court rules by 13 votes to two for a provisional

order that “the Russian Federation shall immediately
suspend military operations that it commenced on 24
February 2022 in the territory of Ukraine”. Only the
Russian and Chinese judges on the court vote against
the order.

17 March 2022 In an address to Ukrainian citizens, President

Zelenskyy cautions Russian troops by drawing a
comparison to hostilities back in 2014:

The occupants thought they were going to Ukraine

which they had seen before, in 2014-2015, which
they corrupted and were not afraid of. But we are
different now.

And it allows us to defend ourselves against a full-

scale attack for 22 days.

18 March 2022 Russia Today has its licence to broadcast in the UK

revoked with immediate effect, after watchdog
Ofcom says it does not consider the channel "fit and
proper" or a "responsible broadcaster".

18 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

Russia establishes a no-fly zone over Ukraine’s

Donbas region, according to a separatist official
from the self-proclaimed Donetsk republic.

The UN’s human rights office (OHCHR) reports at

least 816 civilians have been killed and 1,333
wounded in Ukraine as a result of Russia’s military
operations. The real death toll is likely to be higher
as the OHCHR, which has a large monitoring team in
Ukraine, has not yet been able to verify casualty
reports from badly hit cities such as Mariupol.

Speaking to a large crowd at Moscow’s Luzhniki

stadium to mark the eighth anniversary of Crimea’s
annexation, President Putin praises Russian “unity”.

In a phone call with China’s President Xi Jinping, US

President Joe Biden lays out the consequences for
China if it supports Russia against Ukraine.

In a statement, the White House says the phone call

between the Chinese and American leaders, which
lasted nearly two hours, focused on Russia’s invasion
of Ukraine:

President Biden outlined the views of the United

States and our Allies and partners on this crisis.
President Biden detailed our efforts to prevent and
then respond to the invasion, including by
imposing costs on Russia.

He described the implications and consequences if

China provides material support to Russia as it
conducts brutal attacks against Ukrainian cities
and civilians.

19 March 2022 Russia says it has used its newest Kinzhal hypersonic
missiles for the first time in Ukraine, to destroy a
weapons storage site in the country’s west.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson warns of a “new age

of intimidation” stretching from the Baltic to the
Black Sea looms if Russia succeeds in its operations
against Ukraine:

The end of freedom in Ukraine will mean the

extinction of any hope of freedom in Georgia and
then Moldova. It will mean the beginning of a new
age of intimidation across the whole of Eastern
Europe from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

19 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

20 March 2022 Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for

Refugees, reveals ten million people – more than a
quarter of Ukraine’s population – have now fled their
homes:

Among the responsibilities of those who wage war,

everywhere in the world, is the suffering inflicted
on civilians who are forced to flee their homes.

The war in Ukraine is so devastating that 10 million

have fled either displaced inside the country, or as
refugees abroad.

21 March 2022 Komsomolskaya Pravda, a pro-Kremlin tabloid, says

almost 10,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in
Ukraine: “According to Russian defence ministry data
9,861 Russian soldiers had been killed in action and
another 16,153 had been wounded.”

In a news briefing the US Department of Defence

accuses Russian forces of committing war crimes in
Ukraine and says it will help gather evidence of them,
accusing the Kremlin of carrying out indiscriminate
attacks as part of an intentional strategy in the
conflict.

22 March 2022 UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivers a

stark message to Russia: “This war is unwinnable.”
He urges an immediate ceasefire and a diplomatic
solution to the crisis.

A senior US defence official says Russia’s combat

power in Ukraine has declined below 90% of its pre-
invasion levels for the first time since its attack
began, suggesting heavy losses of weaponry and
growing casualties.

23 March 2022 Russia warns NATO of dire consequences if it were to

agree to send some peacekeeping forces into
Ukraine. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov tells
reporters: “It would be a very reckless and extremely
dangerous decision. A special military operation is
going on, and any possible contact by our troops
with NATO troops can lead to quite clear
consequences that would be hard to repair.”

NATO estimates that between 7,000 and 15,000

Russian soldiers have been killed since it commenced
military operations against Ukraine a month earlier.

20 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

By way of comparison, Russia lost about 15,000

troops over 10 years in Afghanistan.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken formally

announces the US Government believes Russia has
committed war crimes in Ukraine and should be
prosecuted. In a statement, Blinken repeatedly raises
the brutality in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol and
compares it to similar Russian campaigns against
Grozny in the Second Chechen War and Aleppo
during the Syrian civil war.

The UK Government announces it will double the

number of missiles it sends to Ukraine and urges
western allies to step up provisions of lethal aid to
the country.

24 March 2022 President Zelenskyy addresses the Swedish Riksdag,

telling parliamentarians Ukraine deserves to be a full
member of the European Union: “We are fighting not
only for Ukraine, but also for the security of the
European Union! And we have proved that we
deserve to be a full member of the European Union.
The decision is already being elaborated. It's time to
adopt it!”

President Zelenskyy also addresses the NATO summit

in a pre-recorded video address, appealing to
leaders to increase military support for his country
against Russian forces. Zelenskyy warns Russia
wants to expand further and would next target
Alliance members in eastern Europe, including
Poland and the Baltic states.

At the end of the NATO summit, the leaders of the

Member States publish a joint statement condemning
Russia’s actions against Ukraine and calling on China
to “abstain from supporting Russia’s war effort in any
way” and to “cease amplifying the Kremlin’s false
narratives”.

In The Hague, the chief prosecutor of the

International Criminal Court (ICC) asks a coalition of
countries to back his war crimes investigation in
Ukraine, saying “things can get worse” if the
international community fails to act now.

Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners in the first

swap of soldiers since Moscow ordered troops into
Ukraine one month earlier. Referring to Russian and

21 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

Ukrainian troops, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister,

Iryna Vereshchuk, says: “In exchange for 10 captured
occupiers, we rescued 10 of our servicemen.

25 March 2022 The US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan,

reveals the US and NATO are doing contingency
planning for any possible Russian attack on NATO
territory.

Russia’s defence ministry says the first phase of its

military operation in Ukraine is generally complete
and that Russia will now focus on the “liberation” of
Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

26 March 2022 Russia again raises the spectre of the use of nuclear
weapons in its military campaign in Ukraine. Dmitry
Medvedev, a former Russian president who is deputy
chairman of the country’s security council, says
Moscow could strike against an enemy that only used
conventional weapons while Vladimir Putin’s defence
minister claims nuclear “readiness” is a priority.

27 March 2022 Secretary of State Antony Blinken tells reporters the

US has no plans for regime change in Russia. His
comments come a day after President Biden said
President Putin “cannot remain in power”. The
Kremlin later says Biden’s comments are a cause for
concern and “alarming”.

Speaking to Russian journalists in a 90-minute video

call, President Zelenskyy says Ukraine is prepared to
discuss adopting a neutral status as part of a peace
deal with Russia, but that it would have to be
guaranteed by third parties and put to a referendum.

28 March 2022 Ukraine’s economy minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, says

Ukraine has suffered $564.9bn (£429.3bn) of damage
to infrastructure, lost economic growth and other
factors since Russia began its military action.

Russia announces it is preparing to restrict entry for

citizens of “unfriendly” countries, which would
include the US, the UK, and all EU countries. In
televised remarks Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov says: “A draft presidential decree is being
developed on retaliatory visa measures in response
to the unfriendly actions of a number of foreign
states.”

22 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss accuses President

Putin’s forces of abducting innocent civilians,
describing the move as an “abhorrent tactic”. She
adds: “Putin must fail in Ukraine.”

29 March 2022 Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu says

Moscow’s “main goal” in Ukraine is now the
“liberation” of the Donbas region. He says:

“On the whole, the main targets of the first stage

of this operation have been reached. The combat
potential of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been
significantly depleted, which allows us to
concentrate attention and our main efforts on the
achievement of the primary objective, i.e. the
liberation of Donbas”.

A senior UN official says they have seen videos

purporting to show the abuse of prisoners of war on
both sides in Ukraine. Matilda Bogner, head of the
UN’s human rights office in Ukraine, says a number of
videos of the abuse are being examined, adding: “On
the face of it, it does raise serious concerns”.

30 March 2022 The UN’s refugee agency says the number of people
fleeing Ukraine since Russia’s military offensive
began on 24 February passes four million. A further
six-and-a-half million people are internally displaced
within the country.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hails China as

part of a new world order, ahead of a meeting with
his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. In his first visit to
China since Russia began military operations against
Ukraine five weeks earlier, Lavrov says the world is
“living through a very serious stage in the history of
international relations”.

31 March 2022 Commenting on Russian announcements about a

scaling down of military operations around Kyiv,
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg tells
reporters Russian forces in Ukraine are regrouping
and not withdrawing: “According to our intelligence,
Russian units are not withdrawing but repositioning.
Russia is trying to regroup, resupply and reinforce its
offensive in the Donbas region.”

In response to EU sanctions against Russia, the

Russian Government announces many senior EU
figures are barred from entering Russia. EU officials,

23 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

lawmakers, public figures and journalists are among

those sanctioned.

1 April 2022 European Union leaders call on China to help end the
war in Ukraine, after having what are described as
“frank” exchanges with their Chinese counterparts.

The US Department of Defense announces it will

provide an additional $300 million in security
assistance to Ukraine, including laser-guided rocket
systems, drones, and commercial satellite imagery
services.

3 April 2022 Europe pledges further sanctions against Russia

after reports scores of unarmed Ukrainians have
been killed in Bucha. President Zelenskyy says the
Kremlin-ordered attack on his country amounts to
genocide.

In a video address to the nation in the evening,

Zelenskyy blames former German Chancellor Angela
Merkel and ex-French President Nicolas Sarkozy for
fourteen years of failed diplomacy vis a vis Russia,
saying their approach emboldened Moscow to be
more aggressive.

4 April 2022 US President Joe Biden calls for Vladimir Putin to be

tried for war crimes, telling reporters at the Fort
McNair army base in Washington: “You may
remember I got criticised for calling Putin a war
criminal. Well, the truth of the matter – we saw it
happen in Bucha – he is a war criminal.”

5 April 2022 The UK and US announce plans to seek Russia’s

suspension from the UN human rights council,
following allegations that Russian troops
systematically executed civilians in Bucha.

President Zelenskyy addresses the UN Security

Council meeting in New York via video, the first time
he has addressed the Council since Russia invaded
his country on 24 February.

6 April 2022 The US, UK and EU unveil new sanctions against

Moscow. US sanctions target Russian banks and
elites, and include a ban on any American from
investing in Russia as well as sanctions on Putin’s
adult daughters. The UK will impose an asset freeze
on Russia’s largest bank, place sanctions on eight

24 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

more oligarchs and end imports of oil and coal by

next year. The EU announces a wide-ranging
package of sanctions, including import bans on coal
and transaction bans on banks.

President Zelenskyy says the new package of

international sanctions against Russia is “not
enough” and without more painful measures and
supplies of weapons, Russia will view the actions as
permission to launch a new attack.

7 April 2022 NATO foreign ministers meet in Brussels to address

Russian President Putin’s “brutal and unprovoked
invasion of Ukraine”.

Following the meeting, G7 foreign ministers issue a

joint statement to condemn “in the strongest terms”
the atrocities committed by Russian troops in Bucha
and a number of other Ukrainian towns.

The UN General Assembly votes to suspend Russia’s

membership in the UN Human Rights Council. The
resolution receives a two-thirds majority, minus
abstentions, with 93 nations voting in favour and 24
against. 58 nations abstained.

8 April 2022 Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits President

Zelenskyy in Kyiv to discuss further military and
economic assistance. This includes new military
assistance of 120 armoured vehicles and new anti-
ship missile systems, with further economic support
in the form of an additional $500m (£385m) in World
Bank lending to Ukraine, taking the UK’s total loan
guarantee to up to $1 billion.

European Commission’s President Ursula von der

Leyen pledges to offer Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy
a speedier start to his country’s bid to become a
member of the EU. At a joint press conference with
Zelenskyy, von der Leyen says: “It will not as usual be
a matter of years to form this opinion but I think a
matter of weeks.”

9 April 2022 Olga Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister

for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, says her
country is “ready to move fast” with its application to
become a member of the European Union.

25 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

11 April 2022 Speaking in an interview with Russian state

television, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
says Moscow will not pause its military operation in
Ukraine before the next round of peace talks.

Austrian chancellor, Karl Nehammer, holds “direct,

open and hard” talks with President Putin in Moscow.

13 April 2022 The Foreign Secretary announces new sanctions to be

imposed on 178 Russian separatists in breakaway
regions of Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden announces an additional

$800m in military assistance to Ukraine, including
heavy artillery ahead of a wider Russian assault
expected in eastern Ukraine.

14 April 2022 Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's

Security Council, says that should Sweden and
Finland join NATO then Russia will have to strengthen
its land, naval and air forces in the Baltic Sea.

Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney meets

Ukrainian officials in Kyiv and states: “Even though
Ireland is a militarily neutral country, let me be clear,
we are not neutral on this war. We are also not
neutral on the future of your country.”

16 April 2022 Russia’s foreign ministry bans Boris Johnson, Liz

Truss, Ben Wallace and 10 other British government
members from entering the country. The ministry
says the move was taken “in view of the
unprecedented hostile action by the UK government.

18 April 2022 President Zelenskyy says Ukraine hopes to receive

candidate country status to join the EU within weeks.
During a meeting in Kyiv with the EU’s envoy to
Ukraine, Matti Maasikas, Zelenskyy says:

“We strongly believe that this procedure (granting

of candidate status) will take place in the coming
weeks and that it will be positive for the history of
our people, given the price they paid on the path
to independence and democracy.”

A senior US defence department official reveals there

are now 76 Russian battalion tactical groups in the
Donbas region of Ukraine and in the country’s

26 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

southeast, with 11 of those added over the last

several days.

19 April 2022 In remarks at a UN Security Council briefing on

Ukraine, China criticises Western actions, saying the
provision of offensive weapons to Kyiv “will only
prolong and escalate the conflict” and that some
sanctions are “tantamount to weaponising economic
interdependence”

20 April 2022 Figures by the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) show

the number of Ukrainians who have fled abroad since
Russia invaded on 24 February is now 5,010,971.

Finance ministers from the UK, US, Canada and

France walk out of a G20 meeting as the Russian
delegate speaks. The UK’s Chancellor of the
Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, says the walkout was a
coordinated protest, tweeting:

“Earlier my representatives, along with US &

Canadian counterparts left today’s G20 meeting in
Washington as Russian delegates spoke.

We are united in our condemnation of Russia’s war

against Ukraine and will push for stronger
international coordination to punish Russia.”

21 April 2022 The parliaments of both Estonia and Latvia recognise

Russia’s actions in Ukraine as “genocide”.

In its statement the Latvian parliament cites

“evidence of mass brutal crimes committed by the
army of the Russian Federation, including the
murder, torture, sexual abuse and desecration of
Ukrainian civilians, including women and children, in
Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol and elsewhere.”

Estonia's parliament, meanwhile, cites “murders,

enforced disappearances, deportations,
imprisonment, torture, rape, and desecration of
corpses.”

22 April 2022 Following its temporary closure, the UK government

announces the British Embassy in Kyiv will reopen in
the following week.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson reveals dozens of

Ukrainian soldiers are training in the UK, learning
how to use 120 British armoured vehicles before

27 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

returning with them to fight in the war against

Russia.

23 April 2022 In a telephone call, the Prime Minister and President

Zelenskyy agree on the importance of establishing a
ceasefire and humanitarian corridor to allow civilians
to leave Mariupol, and discuss the development of a
long-term security solution for Ukraine.

25 April 2022 Sweden and Finland agree to submit applications to

join NATO at the same time. Both countries will
announce their applications in the week commencing
16 May, during Finnish president Sauli Niinistö’s visit
to Stockholm.

26 April 2022 Officials from more than 40 countries meet at

Germany’s Ramstein airbase, for US-hosted talks
focusing on how to arm Kyiv against a Russian
onslaught in eastern Ukraine.

27 April 2022 Russia’s foreign ministry announces sanctions on 287

members of the House of Commons. In a statement,
the ministry says the decision to introduce
restrictions was taken in response to Britain’s
decision on 11 March to sanction 386 members of the
Russian state Duma.

28 April 2022 The UN Secretary-General describes the war in

Ukraine as “an absurdity” in the 21st century, on a
visit to the scene of civilian killings outside Kyiv.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

calls for the creation “urgently” of a special tribunal
to investigate and prosecute the crime of aggression,
allegedly committed by the political and military
leadership of Russia in Ukraine.

The UN Secretary General has criticised his own

organisation’s Security Council while on visit to Kyiv.

3 May 2022 The Prime Minister addresses Ukraine’s Parliament

via videolink, saying this is Ukraine’s ‘finest hour’ and
announcing a new £300m package of defensive
military aid for Ukraine.

Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passes a

law that bans political parties who justify, recognise
or deny Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine.

28 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

6 May 2022 The UN Security Council issues its first statement on

the war in Ukraine, but withholds from using the
words “war”, “conflict” or “invasion”.

The statement instead “expresses deep concern

regarding the maintenance of peace and security of
Ukraine” and voices “strong support” for Secretary-
General Antonio Guterres in seeking a peaceful
solution to the “dispute”.

At the Security Council meeting, the UK condemns

Russia’s continued aggression towards Ukraine.

8 May 2022 US First Lady Jill Biden makes an unannounced visit

to western Ukraine to visit her Ukrainian counterpart,
Olena Zelenska to show US support on Mother’s Day.

Meanwhile the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin

Trudeau, also makes an unannounced trip to
Ukraine, visiting the town of Irpin.

9 May 2022 Speaking to the European Parliament in Strasbourg,

France’s President Macron says Ukraine’s bid to join
the EU will “take several years indeed, probably
several decades”.

In a national address in the evening, Ukraine’s

President Zelenskyy confirms he submitted the
second part of a formal questionnaire to obtain
candidacy for membership in the EU during a video
call with European Commission President Ursula von
der Leyen.

10 May 2022 The UN’s migration agency says more than 8 million
people had been internally displaced in Ukraine since
the Russian invasion began on 24 February.

The figures, published in a report by the International

Organisation for Migration (IOM), represent a 24%
increase compared with the first internal
displacement figures published on 16 March.

The Belarusian Chief of General Staff, Viktor Gulevich,

announces his forces will deploy special operations
troops in three areas near its southern border with
Ukraine in response to a “growing threat” by the US
and its allies.

29 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

11 May 2022 Prime Minister Boris Johnson travels to Sweden and

Finland during a 24-hour trip to discuss the Nordic
countries’ ambitions to apply for NATO membership.

12 May 2022 Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister

Sanna Marin endorse their country’s application to
join NATO and say “Finland must apply for NATO
membership without delay”.

In response, Russia’s Foreign Ministry warns:

“Finland joining NATO is a radical change in the

country’s foreign policy.

Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps, both

of a military-technical and other nature, in order
to stop threats to its national security arising.”

The UN’s human rights council passes a resolution to

investigate alleged abuses by Russian troops in parts
of Ukraine formerly under their control, with a view to
holding those responsible to account.

More than 50 countries back Kyiv’s request for a

special session of the council to examine “the
deteriorating human rights situation in Ukraine
stemming from the Russian aggression”.

The resolution passes by a strong majority, with 33

members voting in favour and two – China and
Eritrea – against. There were 12 abstentions.

13 May 2022 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president, casts

doubt on Finnish and Swedish membership of NATO,
saying he does not have a positive opinion of the two
Nordic nations joining the military alliance, adding
“We don’t want to commit a mistake. Scandinavian
countries are like guesthouses for terrorist
organisations. To go even further, they have seats in
their parliaments too.”

16 May 2022 The Swedish government confirms it intends to apply

for membership of NATO, joining neighbouring
Finland.

17 May 2022 Finland’s parliament overwhelmingly approves a

proposal to apply for NATO membership. Of the 200
members of the legislature, 188 vote in favour and
eight against the application.

30 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

25 May 2022 Members of the Russian State Duma vote to approve

a new law that will eliminate age limits for military
contract soldiers. According to the bill, men up to
age 65 will now be eligible to serve in the army. The
new limit also applies to foreign nationals wishing to
serve in the army.

President Putin signs a decree simplifying the process

for residents of Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Kherson
and Zaporizhzhia regions to acquire Russian
citizenship and passports.

27 May 2022 Russia blames Ukraine for the stalling of peace talks
between the two countries, claiming Ukraine’s
President Zelenskyy “constantly makes contradictory
statements”.

30 May 2022 The European Council says it is ready to grant

Ukraine €9bn to aid its post-war reconstruction.

European Council President Charles Michel said the

Council will “continue helping Ukraine with its
immediate liquidity needs, together with G7”.

31 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

 Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

2 June - August 2022

Key events
7 June 2022: Russia’s parliament passes a pair of bills
ending the ECHR’s jurisdiction in the country.
16 June 2022: The leaders of France, Germany, Italy and
Romania visit Kyiv, vowing to support Ukraine’s bid to join
the EU.
17 June 2022: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson makes a
surprise visit to Kyiv to meet Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy.
23 June 2022: The EU approves the application of Ukraine to
become a candidate country.
5 July 2022: The 30 NATO member states sign accession
protocols for Finland and Sweden, sending the membership
bids of the two Nordic countries to allied parliaments for
approval.

2 June 2022 In a video address to the Luxembourg parliament,

President Zelenskyy reveals Russian forces currently
occupy about 20% of Ukraine’s territory.

Ukrainian officials embark on a diplomatic push to

start the country’s journey towards EU membership,
as a number of member states express doubts about
a fast-track approach.

3 June 2022 Marking “100 days of Putin’s war”, Foreign Secretary

Liz Truss says the UK’s steadfast support for Ukraine
will never waver.

7 June 2022 Russia's parliament passes a pair of bills ending the

European Court of Human Rights’ jurisdiction in the
country. The first bill removes Russia from the court’s
jurisdiction and the second sets 15 March as the cut-
off point, with rulings against Russia made after that
date not to be implemented.

32 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

9 June 2022 The UK government says it is “deeply concerned”

over the death sentences handed to the Britons Aiden
Aslin and Shaun Pinner, who were captured while
fighting for Ukraine.

11 June 2022 A United Nations commission arrives in Ukraine to

investigate war crimes. Deputy Speaker of Ukraine’s
Parliament, Olena Kondratyuk, says the
commission’s goal is to record war crimes and
human rights violations.

14 June 2022 Russia bans dozens of British journalists, media

representatives and defence industry figures from
entering the country. In a statement, Russia’s Foreign
Ministry says this is in response to western sanctions
and pressure on its state-run media outlets abroad.

16 June 2022 The leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Romania

vow to support Ukraine’s bid to join the EU on a visit
to Kyiv intended as a show of unity in the face of
Russian advances and complaints from the
Ukrainians about the pace of weapons supplies.

17 June 2022 The European Union's executive commission

recommends Ukraine and its neighbour Moldova be
designated candidates for membership of the bloc.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson makes a surprise

visit to Kyiv to meet Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy
and later holds a press conference.

20 June 2022 In an address to the African Union, President

Zelenskyy calls Africa a “hostage” to Russia’s war in
his country, which has led to global food shortages
and famine fears across the African continent.

23 June 2022 The EU approves the application of Ukraine to

become a candidate country following the earlier
recommendation of the European Commission on 17
June.

27 June 2022 Leaders of the G7 pledge to stand with Ukraine “for

as long as it takes” by ramping up sanctions on
Russia and backing security commitments for Kyiv in
a post-war settlement.

In a telephone call, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin

and his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, discuss

33 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

global food security and confirm their intention to

strengthen their strategic partnership.

28 June 2022 Speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit in

Madrid, the alliance’s Secretary-General, Jens
Stoltenberg, says he does not see China as an
adversary, but notes NATO is concerned about
Beijing’s ever closer ties with Moscow.

29 June 2022 Syria became the first nation other than Russia to
formally recognise the two separatist republics in
eastern Ukraine.

In response, President Zelenskyy announces the end

of diplomatic ties between Ukraine and Syria, adding
the sanctions pressure against Syria “will be even
greater”.

30 June 2022 At the NATO Leaders’ Summit, the Prime Minister

announces a further £1 billion package of military
support to Ukraine. This brings the total of UK
military and economic support to £3.8 billion this
year.

1 July 2022 In a speech via video link to Ukraine’s parliament, the

President of the European Commission tells Kyiv
there is “a long road ahead” for its bid to become an
EU member state, but that “Europe will be at your
side every step of the way”.

4 July 2022 Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal puts a

$750bn (£620bn) price tag on the recovery of his
country at the Ukraine Recovery Conference hosted
by Switzerland.

Shmyhal also tells the conference Ukraine has so far

suffered more than $100bn of direct damage to its
infrastructure.

5 July 2022 In a written statement, the UK Defence Secretary Ben

Wallace says the first rotation of Ukrainian soldiers
has arrived in the UK for training; part of a £2.3bn
military aid package that includes a programme to
train up to 10,000 new Ukrainian recruits.

The 30 NATO member states sign accession protocols

for Finland and Sweden, sending the membership

34 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

bids of the two Nordic countries to allied parliaments

for approval.

The protocol means Finland and Sweden can join in

NATO meetings and have greater access to
intelligence but will not be protected by an alliance
defence clause – that an attack on one ally is an
attack against all – until ratification.

6 July 2022 Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister, Ma Zhaoxu, tells the

Russian Ambassador to China, Andrey Denisov, that
Beijing is willing to deepen cooperation with Russia
within multilateral frameworks including the G20.

7 July 2022 In his resignation speech outside Downing Street,

Boris Johnson says he is “immensely proud” of the
achievements of his government, including “leading
the West in standing up to Putin’s aggression in
Ukraine”, adding:

“And let me say now, to the people of Ukraine, that

I know that we in the UK will continue to back your
fight for freedom for as long as it takes.”

Johnson remains Prime Minister until a successor is

appointed.

In a statement released after the two leaders speak

by telephone, Zelenskyy thanks Johnson for
defending Ukraine’s interests after Russia’s invasion:

“We all heard this news with sadness. Not only me,
but also the entire Ukrainian society, which is very
sympathetic to yo… We have no doubt that Great
Britain’s support will be preserved, but your
personal leadership and charisma made it
special.”

13 July 2022 North Korea officially recognises the self-proclaimed

Donetsk People’s Republic and the self-proclaimed
Luhansk People’s Republic, the pro-Russian occupied
territories in the east of Ukraine. The move makes
North Korea only the third UN member state to
recognise them as legitimate authorities, after
Russia and Syria.

In response, Ukraine’s foreign ministry announces it

has cut ties with the North Korea, saying:

35 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

“We consider this decision as an attempt by

Pyongyang to undermine the sovereignty and
territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

14 July 2022 Addressing a conference at The Hague focused on

war crimes in Ukraine, President Zelenskyy urges
European and International Criminal Court officials
to open a “special tribunal” to investigate Russia’s
invasion of his country.

15 July 2022 The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

summons the Russian Ambassador, Andrey Kelin, to
express the UK’s concern over reports of the death of
a British aid worker in the non-government controlled
areas of Ukraine. In a statement, Foreign Secretary
Liz Truss says:

“I am shocked to hear reports of the death of

British aid worker Paul Urey while in the custody of
a Russian proxy in Ukraine. Russia must bear the
full responsibility for this.”

19 July 2022 Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former President who is

now Deputy Head of its Security Council says peace
in Ukraine, when it comes, will be on Moscow’s terms
and that Russia is on course to seize more parts of
Ukraine, saying: “Russia will achieve all its goals.
There will be peace – on our terms.”.

Attending his first major summit outside of Russia

since the invasion of Ukraine, President Putin wins the
endorsement of the Iranian Supreme Leader, with
Khamenei telling Putin:

“War is a harsh and difficult issue, and Iran is not

at all pleased that ordinary people suffer from it,
but in the case of Ukraine if you had not taken the
initiative, the other side would have caused the
war with its own initiative.

If the road is open to Nato, it knows no boundaries

and if it was not stopped in Ukraine they would
start the same war some time later under the
pretext of Crimea.”

1 August 2022 Russia bans 39 senior British politicians,

businesspeople and journalists from entering the
country, including the Labour Party leader, Sir Keir
Starmer, and former prime minister David Cameron.

36 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

9 August 2022 The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR,

reveals more than 10.5 million people have crossed
the border from Ukraine since Russia’s invasion
began on 24 February.

US President Biden signs the documents of

ratification to formally back Finland and Sweden in
joining the NATO alliance, saying:

“In seeking to join NATO, Finland and Sweden are

making a sacred commitment that an attack
against one is an attack against all.”

15 August 2022 President Putin tells North Korean leader Kim Jong
Un the two countries will “expand the comprehensive
and constructive bilateral relations with common
efforts”.

Kim notes the “strategic and tactical cooperation,

support and solidarity” between the two countries
has reached a new level in their common efforts to
frustrate threats and provocations from hostile
military forces.

Putin also says Moscow values its ties with countries

in Latin American, Asia and Africa and is ready to
offer modern weapons to its allies.

23 August 2022 Prime Minister Boris Johnson urges world leaders not
to allow President Putin to repeat the annexation of
Crimea in other parts of Ukraine.

In a remote address to the Crimea Platform

conference, Johnson says the UK will continue to
support Ukraine with military, humanitarian,
economic and diplomatic support until Russia “ends
this hideous war and withdraws its forces from the
entirety of Ukraine”.

24 August 2022 The UK Prime Minister visits Ukraine to announce

further military support, noting: “What happens in
Ukraine matters to us all. That is why I am in Kyiv
today.”

The latest £54m support package includes unmanned

surveillance and missile systems for the Ukrainian
military.

27 August 2022 Russia blocks an agreement at the UN that is aimed

at bolstering the nuclear non-proliferation treaty

37 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

(NPT) because Moscow objects to a clause about

control over the Zaporizhzhia power plant in Ukraine.

The failure to agree to a joint statement after four

weeks of debate and negotiation among 151 countries
at the UN is the latest blow to hopes of maintaining
an arms control regime.

38 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

 Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

3 September - November 2022

Key events
6 September 2022: Liz Truss replaces Boris Johnson as UK
Prime Minister.
21 September 2022: President Zelenskyy speaks virtually to
the UN General Assembly in New York, saying the world
wants peace.
30 September 2022: President Putin signs “accession
treaties” formalising Russia’s illegal annexation of four
occupied regions in Ukraine.
Russia later vetoes a Western bid at the UN Security Council
to condemn its annexations of Ukrainian territory.
5 October 2022: President Putin signs the laws to formally
absorb four Ukrainian regions into Russia.
19 October 2022: Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov,
says Russia no longer sees a need to maintain a diplomatic
presence in the West.
25 October 2022: Rishi Sunak replaces Liz Truss as UK Prime
Minister.
5 November 2022: Iran acknowledges for the first time that
it has supplied Moscow with drones.
10 November 2022: New data reveals the full effect of UK
sanctions on Russia, with £18.39 billion of Russian assets
sanctioned.
23 November 2022: The European Parliament votes to
designate Russia a “state sponsor of terrorism”.

4 September 2022 In a sign of easing tensions between Berlin and Kyiv,

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal thanks
Germany for its solidarity in the face of the Russian
invasion and calls for more weapons, in a visit to
Berlin to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

39 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

6 September 2022 Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, criticises the

UK’s new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, and says the UK
will not strengthen its position in the international
arena under her leadership.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Lavrov

says Truss tried to “defend Britain’s interests without
taking into account the positions of others in any way
and without any attempt to compromise”.

7 September 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss speaks to her Ukrainian

counterpart President Zelenskyy to pledge her “full
backing” for Ukraine. A statement released by 10
Downing St notes:

“In her first call with a counterpart since becoming

prime minister, she reiterated to the Ukrainian
leader that he had her full backing, and Ukraine
could depend on the UK’s assistance for the long
term.

The leaders discussed the need to strengthen

global security and the measures necessary to cut
off the funds fuelling Putin’s war machine.”

13 September 2022 A newly declassified cable released by the US State

Department reveals Russia has covertly spent more
than $300m since 2014 to try to influence politicians
and other officials in more than two dozen countries.

14 September 2022 European Commission President, Ursula von der

Leyen, says Western sanctions on Russia are having
a real impact and are here to stay, stressing the EU’s
solidarity with Ukraine remains “unshakeable”.

With the Ukrainian first lady, Olena Zelenska, as

guest of honour Von der Leyen delivers her annual
state of the union speech, telling the European
Parliament:

“Never before has this parliament debated the

state of our union with war raging on European
soil.

And I stand here with the conviction that with

courage and solidarity, Putin will fail and Europe
will prevail,” Von der Leyen said, adding: “Europe’s
solidarity with Ukraine will remain unshakeable.”

40 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

Following a telephone conversation with President

Putin, the UN Secretary-General says the prospects
for peace in Ukraine are currently “minimal”.

Antonio Guterres says he and Putin discussed efforts

to overcome “obstacles”, but stresses: “I have the
feeling we are still far away from peace. I would be
lying if I would say it could happen soon.”

16 September 2022 The UN food chief says the world is facing “a global
emergency of unprecedented magnitude,” with up to
345 million people at risk of starvation and 70 million
pushed closer to starvation by the war in Ukraine.

18 September 2022 The first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, pays her
respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II’s lying in state
at Westminster Hall, before attending a reception
with the Princess of Wales at Buckingham Palace.

21 September 2022 President Zelenskyy speaks virtually to the UN

General Assembly in New York, saying:

“Ukraine wants peace. Europe wants peace. The

world wants peace. And we have seen who is the
only one who wants war. There is only one entity
among all UN member states who would say now if
he could interrupt my speech that he is happy with
this war, with his war.”

22 September 2022 In a special Foreign Minister-level UN Security

Council meeting on Ukraine, James Cleverly
reiterates the UK’s full and unwavering commitment
to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and
territorial integrity.

Russia’s Foreign Minister briefly attends the meeting

to give his speech, before promptly walking out.

24 September 2022 Iran’s ministry spokesperson, Nasser Kanaani, warns

Ukraine to “refrain from being influenced by third
parties who seek to destroy relations between the
two countries”.

The statement comes after Ukraine downgraded

diplomatic ties with Iran on and stripped its
ambassador of his accreditation over what it called
Tehran’s “unfriendly” decision to supply Russian
forces with drones.

41 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

25 September 2022 Sergei Lavrov says the four regions of Ukraine where
widely-criticised referendums are being held will be
under Moscow’s “full protection” if they are annexed.

At a news conference following his speech to the UN

General Assembly in New York, Lavrov is asked
whether Russia would have grounds for using nuclear
weapons to defend annexed regions of Ukraine. He
says Russian territory – including territory “further
enshrined” in Russia’s constitution in the future – “is
under the full protection of the state”.

27 September 2022 The US Embassy in Moscow issues a security alert

and urges American citizens to leave Russia
immediately.

In a statement on its website the US Embassy warns

that dual Russian-US nationals may be called up as
part of the Russian government’s mobilisation in
support of its invasion of Ukraine, noting:

“Russia may refuse to acknowledge dual nationals’

U.S. citizenship, deny their access to U.S. consular
assistance, prevent their departure from Russia,
and conscript dual nationals for military service.”

28 September 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss tells President Zelenskyy in a

phone call that the UK will never recognise Russian
attempts to annex parts of Ukraine.

A statement issued by 10 Downing St reads:

“The prime minister spoke to President Zelenskyy

this afternoon to underline the UK’s steadfast
support in light of Russia’s sham referendums in
Ukraine.

The prime minister made clear that the UK would

never recognise Russian attempts to annexe
sovereign territory. She reiterated that Ukraine
could depend on the UK’s support until President
Putin was defeated.

President Zelensky updated the prime minister on

the current military situation and welcomed her
strong backing, including at the UN general
assembly last week.”

30 September 2022 President Putin signs “accession treaties” formalising

Russia’s illegal annexation of four occupied regions

42 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

in Ukraine, marking the largest forcible takeover of

territory in Europe since the second world war.

Hours later, President Zelenskyy announces Ukraine

is officially applying for membership of NATO.

In the evening, Russia vetoes a Western bid at the UN

Security Council to condemn its annexations of
Ukrainian territory, specifically the regions of
Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.

The draft resolution, circulated by the US and

Albania, was supported by ten of the fifteen members
of the Security Council. Russia voting against it, with
four members abstaining: Brazil, China, Gabon and
India.

Speaking afterwards, the UK’s Ambassador

condemned Russia for using its veto to block the
resolution.

2 October 2022 The presidents of nine NATO countries in central and

eastern Europe declare they will never recognise the
annexation by Russia of Ukrainian territory.

The statement – issued by the presidents of the Czech

Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro,
North Macedonia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia –
says they could not “stay silent in the face of the
blatant violation of international law by the Russian
Federation” and that “We reiterate our support for
the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

5 October 2022 President Putin signs the laws to formally absorb four
Ukrainian regions into Russia. Russia’s State Duma,
the lower house of parliament, announces: “Russian
President Vladimir Putin has signed four federal
constitutional laws on the entry of the Donetsk and
Luhansk People’s Republics, Zaporizhzhia and
Kherson regions into the Russian Federation. He also
signed the relevant laws on ratification.”

10 October 2022 At a UN General Assembly Emergency Special

Session on Ukraine, the UK Ambassador urges UN
member states “to condemn the largest forcible
annexation attempt since the Second World War”.

11 October 2022 G7 leaders hold a meeting “to reiterate the unity of

opposition to Putin’s continued brutality in Ukraine”.

43 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

At the G7 meeting, Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy

calls for an international monitoring mission on the
Ukraine-Belarus border, saying:

“Russia is trying to directly draw Belarus into this

war, playing a provocation that we are allegedly
preparing an attack on this country.”

In a statement issued following the summit, the

leaders of the G7 vow to hold President Vladimir Putin
and those responsible for the attacks on Ukraine to
account. They also say they will “never recognise”
Russia’s “illegal annexation” of Ukrainian territory or
“the sham referenda that Russia uses to justify it”.

12 October 2022 The UN General Assembly passes a resolution calling

on member states not to recognise the four Ukrainian
regions claimed by Russia and to demand Moscow
reverses course on its “attempted illegal
annexation”.

143 UN member states vote in favour of the

resolution, with five against: Russia, Syria,
Nicaragua, North Korea and Belarus. Thirty-five
countries abstain, including Russia’s strategic
partner China, together with India, South Africa and
Pakistan. The rest did not vote.

18 October 2022 Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba,

announces he is submitting a proposal to President
Zelenskyy to cut diplomatic ties with Iran.

Kuleba also said Kyiv will send an official note to

Israel seeking immediate air defence supplies and
cooperation in the sector.

19 October 2022 Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, says Russia

no longer sees a need to maintain a diplomatic
presence in the West according to the Russian news
agency TASS, who quotes him as saying:

“There is neither point nor desire to maintain the

previous presence in Western states. Our people
work there in conditions that can hardly be called
human. Problems are being created constantly for
them; they face threats of physical assaults. And,
most importantly, there’s no work to do since
Europe decided to shut off from us and sever any
economic cooperation. You can’t force love.”

44 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

23 October 2022 UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace speaks to his

Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, in a rare
telephone call initiated at the request of the
Russians.

In the call, Wallace refutes claims that Ukraine,

facilitated by Western counties including the UK,
were planning to escalate the conflict in Ukraine.

24 October 2022 Russia’s Military Chief of General Staff Valery

Gerasimov speaks to the UK’s Chief of Defence Staff
Tony Radakin and the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs
of Staff Mark Milley.

The Russian defence ministry says Gerasimov and his

British counterpart discussed the possibility, raised
by Moscow without any evidence, that Ukraine might
use a “dirty bomb”. The claims are categorically
rejected by Radakin.

25 October 2022 Hours after becoming the UK Prime Minister, Rishi

Sunak speaks to US President Joe Biden and they
agree to work together to support Ukraine.

27 October 2022 President Putin gives a speech to a meeting of the

Valdai discussion forum in Moscow, a thinktank with
close links to the Kremlin, generally considered to be
part of Moscow’s propaganda machine.

In his speech, Putin accuses “Western elites” of

playing a “dangerous, bloody and dirty game” and
blames them for much of the world’s trouble,
including his own invasion of Ukraine.

3 November 2022 In an interview with Sky News, Andrei Kelin, the

Russian ambassador to the United Kingdom, warns
that that the UK is in “too deep” in the war in
Ukraine, claiming he has proof that UK special forces
have been involved in a Ukrainian drone attack on
Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Crimea.

5 November 2022 Iran acknowledges for the first time that it has
supplied Moscow with drones, but says the drones
were sent before the war in Ukraine.

8 November 2022 US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirms

communication channels between Washington and
Moscow remain open.

45 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

Speaking at an event at the Economic Club of New

York, Sullivan says it is “in the interests” of the US
and every country affected by the war in Ukraine to
maintain contact with the Kremlin.

10 November 2022 New data reveals the full effect of UK sanctions on

Russia, with £18.39 billion of Russian assets frozen
and reported to the Office of Financial Sanctions
Implementation (OFSI).

13 November 2022 US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says some

sanctions on Russia could remain in place after any
peace agreement with Ukraine.

Yellen says any eventual peace agreement will

involve a review of the penalties the US and its allies
have imposed on Russia’s economy.

In an interview while attending the G20 summit in

Indonesia, Yellen says:

“I suppose in the context of some peace

agreement, adjustment of sanctions is possible
and could be appropriate.”

14 November 2022 The EU and its member states have so far provided
weapons and military equipment worth a total of at
least €8bn (£7bn) to Ukraine, according to the bloc’s
foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with his EU

counterparts in Brussels, he said this was about 45%
of what the US has supplied to Kyiv.

The United Nations General Assembly calls for Russia

to make reparations to Ukraine and be held
accountable for its conduct.

The resolution, supported by 94 of the Assembly’s 193

members, says Russia “must bear the legal
consequences of all of its internationally wrongful
acts, including making reparation for the injury,
including any damage, caused by such acts.”

15 November 2022 In his address to world leaders gathered for the G20
summit in Indonesia, President Zelenskyy outlines a
series of conditions needed to end the war Ukraine.

Speaking virtually from Ukraine, Zelenskyy says

Russia must reaffirm the territorial integrity of

46 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

Ukraine, withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory

and pay compensation for damage caused.

Zelenskyy also calls for an international conference

to “cement key element of the postwar security
architecture” and prevent a recurrence of “Russian
aggression”.

Throughout his speech Zelenskyy thanks the “G19”,

thus excluding Russia.

Russia’s President Putin was not in the room, but his

foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was in attendance.

Meanwhile, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) says

both Russia and Ukraine have tortured prisoners of
war during the conflict, citing examples including the
use of electric shocks and forced nudity.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he has spoken to

Polish President Andrzej Duda following reports of a
missile strike in Poland, and affirms “the UK's
solidarity with Poland.”

16 November 2022 Poland’s President Duda says the missile that landed
in his country and killed two appears to be an
“unfortunate accident” and there is no evidence it
was launched by Russia, adding It is “highly probably
that it was fired by Ukrainian anti-aircraft defence”
and “unfortunately fell into Polish territory.”

Following an emergency meeting on the margins of

the G20 Summit in Indonesia, NATO and G7 leaders
condemn Russia’s “barbaric missile attacks” on
Ukraine.

The leaders of Canada, the EU, France, Germany,

Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK and the
US release the following statement:

“We condemn the barbaric missile attacks that

Russia perpetrated on Ukrainian cities and civilian
infrastructure on Tuesday.

We discussed the explosion that took place in the

eastern part of Poland near the border with
Ukraine. We offer our full support for and
assistance with Poland’s ongoing investigation. We
agree to remain in close touch to determine
appropriate next steps as the investigation
proceeds.

47 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

We reaffirm our steadfast support for Ukraine and

the Ukrainian people in the face of ongoing
Russian aggression, as well as our continued
readiness to hold Russia accountable for its brazen
attacks on Ukrainian communities.”

19 November 2022 In his first visit to Kyiv, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
meets President Zelenskyy and confirms the UK will
provide a new package of air defence to help protect
Ukrainian civilians and critical national
infrastructure. The £50 million package comprises
125 anti-aircraft guns and technology to counter
deadly Iranian-supplied drones.

21 November 2022 In a video address to NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s

annual session in Madrid, President Zelenskyy
appeals to members to guarantee the protection of
his country’s nuclear power plants from “Russian
sabotage”.

Zelenskyy also calls for new EU sanctions against

Russia over what he said was its “policy of genocide”
as its forces bomb civilian infrastructure.

23 November 2022 The European Parliament votes to designate Russia a

“state sponsor of terrorism”.

In a largely symbolic vote, MEPs argue Russia’s

military strikes on civilian targets such as energy
infrastructure, hospitals, schools and shelters violate
international law.

28 November 2022 The foreign ministers of Estonia, Finland, Iceland,

Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden visit Kyiv to
show their support for Ukraine.

UK Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, meets

Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska during her visit to
London to discuss the prevention of sexual violence in
conflicts. The Foreign Secretary affirms: “The UK
stands with Ukraine, and with all survivors of these
despicable crimes.”

29 November 2022 In Westminster, Mrs Zelenska addresses MPs and

peers and echoes Churchill’s words when speaking
about air raid sirens in Ukraine:

“We’re hearing sirens every day. They are identical

to those which were heard by British generations.

48 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

You did not surrender and we will not surrender.

But victory is not the only thing we need. We need
justice. I come to you for justice.”

49 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

 Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

4 December 2022 – February 2023

Key events
8 December 2022: President Putin admits Russia’s war in
Ukraine could turn into a “long-term process”.
19 December 2022: President Putin discusses closer military
cooperation with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander
Lukashenko, during a rare visit to the country.
26 December 2022: Ukraine calls for Russia to be removed
as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
14 January 2023: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirms the UK
is planning to provide Ukraine with a small number of
Challenger 2 tanks.
30 January 2023: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says
Turkey could accept Finland into NATO without its Nordic
neighbour Sweden.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal, says he wants the
country to join the EU within two years.
17 February 2023: World leaders gather in Germany for the
Munich security conference, to discuss Europe’s security
situation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
20 February 2023: President Biden visits the Ukrainian
capital, Kyiv, to meet President Zelenskyy.
21 February 2023: President Putin announces Russia will
suspend the New START bilateral nuclear treaty with the US.
22 February 2023: President Putin revokes a 2012 decree
that in part underpins Moldova's sovereignty.
China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, meets President Putin in
Moscow, as they reaffirm their close bilateral relationship.
23 February 2023: The UN General Assembly adopts a
resolution calling for the ending of the war in Ukraine.
24 February 2023: First anniversary of Russia’s invasion into
Ukraine.

50 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

China releases a 12-point position paper outlining its stance

on the Ukraine conflict, portraying itself as a neutral party
and urging the two sides to enter into peace negotiations.

2 December 2022 Finland’s Prime Minister, Sanna Marin, calls for

Europe to build its own defence capabilities in the
wake of the war in Ukraine, so as to have resilience
without US support:

“We should make sure that we are stronger. And

I’ll be brutally honest with you, Europe isn’t strong
enough. We would be in trouble without the United
States.”

3 December 2022 The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba,

accuses Russia of orchestrating a series of letters
containing explosives or animal parts that were sent
to 17 Ukrainian embassies or diplomatic missions
around the world in recent days.

8 December 2022 Speaking to members of his personal human rights

council, President Putin admits Russia’s war in
Ukraine could turn into a “long-term process”.

10 December 2022 In an interview with Norwegian broadcaster NRK, the

head of NATO expresses concerns that the fighting in
Ukraine could spin out of control and become a war
between Russia and NATO:

“If things go wrong, they can go horribly wrong. It

is a terrible war in Ukraine. It is also a war that can
become a full-fledged war that spreads into a
major war between NATO and Russia. We are
working on that every day to avoid that.”

11 December 2022 The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borell, calls for
more work on European security and defence, urging
the region to “spend better and cooperate more”.

In a statement published late in the evening, Borrell

says:

“This war has also been a wake-up call for all of us

about our military capabilities. We have given
weapons to Ukraine, but in so doing, we realised
that our military stockpiles have been depleted.

51 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

With conventional war returning to the heart of

Europe, we also realised that we are lacking
critical defence capabilities, to be able to protect
ourselves from a higher level of threats on the
European continent itself.”

12 December 2022 The EU agrees an additional €2bn in support to a

fund used to supply Ukraine with weapons.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels signed off

the money for the “European Peace Facility”, a fund
that has been largely used to reimburse member
states for supplying Ukraine with weapons and non-
lethal military kit.

“This decision sends a clear political signal of the

EU’s enduring commitment to military support for
Ukraine and other partners alike,” the EU Council of
Ministers said in a statement.

G7 leaders, joined by President Zelenskyy, hold a

meeting and reaffirm their “unwavering support for –
and solidarity with – Ukraine in the face of ongoing
Russian war of aggression for as long as it takes”.

14 December 2022 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says it is in the

interest of Germany and Europe for the remaining
Balkan states to become EU member states and
welcomes the decision to grant Bosnia candidate
status.

Supporters of the EU’s eastward expansion argue the

bloc’s engagement with the western Balkans is vital
for protecting European security in the face of
Russian aggression. Croatia is currently the only
western Balkan state that has secured EU
membership and the process of joining can take
many years.

19 December 2022 Addressing a meeting in Latvia of leaders of

countries in the Joint Expeditionary Force, which
includes the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Zelenskyy
says:

“Russian aggression can and must fail. The task

now is to make sure it happens faster. I call upon
you to do everything to accelerate the defeat of
the occupiers.”

President Putin discusses closer military cooperation

with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander

52 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

Lukashenko, during a rare visit to the country, as

fears grow in Kyiv that Moscow is pushing its closest
ally to join a new ground offensive against Ukraine.

21 December 2022 President Biden and President Zelenskyy hold

bilateral meetings at the White House in which
additional defence aid to Ukraine is discussed. Biden
announces a new $1.85 billion aid package which will
include a Patriot missile battery.

This is Zelenskyy’s first trip outside Ukraine since

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began 300 days ago.

In a later address to the US Congress, Zelenskyy

emphasises US aid will help Ukraine to secure a
victory that will make the world safer.

26 December 2022 Ukraine calls for Russia to be removed as a

permanent member of the UN Security Council,
arguing Moscow’s “illegitimate” presence in the UN
has been “marked by wars and seizures of other
countries’ territories”.

In a statement, the Ukrainian foreign ministry says:

“Ukraine calls on the member states of the UN ...

to deprive the Russian Federation of its status as a
permanent member of the UN security council and
to exclude it from the UN as a whole.”

29 December 2022 The Ukrainian ambassador to Belarus is summoned

to the foreign ministry in Minsk to receive a formal
protest amid a Ukrainian air defence missile straying
into Belarussian air space.

Belarus’ foreign ministry spokesperson Anatoly Glaz

views the incident as extremely serious, adding:

“We demanded that the Ukrainian side conduct a

thorough investigation ... [and] hold those
responsible to account and take comprehensive
measures to prevent the recurrence of such
incidents in the future.”

30 December 2022 Russia’s President Putin invites his Chinese

counterpart, Xi Jinping, to make a state visit to
Russia the following spring, as Moscow seeks to
deepen its ties with China amid growing international
isolation over the war in Ukraine. Speaking to Xi via a

53 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

videoconference, Putin says Russia’s ties with China

are the “best in history”.

31 December 2022 President Putin uses his New Year address to the
nation to accuse Western countries of aggression
and trying to use the conflict in Ukraine to undermine
Moscow.

Echoing his repeated contention that Moscow had no

choice but to send troops into Ukraine, Putin says:

“It was a year of difficult, necessary decisions, the

most important steps toward gaining full
sovereignty of Russia and powerful consolidation
of our society.”

11 January 2023 Speaking in a televised meeting with officials,

President Putin says the situation in the regions of
Ukraine that had been annexed by Russia Ukrainian
regions was “difficult in places”.

President Zelenskyy urges NATO to do more than just

promise Ukraine its door is open and that Ukraine
needs “powerful steps” as it tries to join the alliance.

Speaking in Lviv, Zelenskyy said:

“For today, just support for Ukraine from

colleagues in NATO and support in the form of
rhetoric about open doors is not enough for
Ukraine. Namely, not enough to motivate our state
... our soldiers.”

14 January 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirms the UK is

planning to provide Ukraine with a small number of
Challenger 2 tanks.

16 January 2023 In a statement to the House of Commons, Defence

Secretary Ben Wallace says the UK’s decision to send
Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine is a “calibrated
response to Russia’s growing aggression and
indiscriminate bombing”, adding “None of the
international support for Ukraine is an attack on
Russia, or NATO-orchestrated aggression, let alone a
proxy war.”

17 January 2023 Speaking at the annual World Economic Forum in

Davos, Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin says
Finland is prepared to support Ukraine in its war with

54 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

Russia for “as long as needed”. This could be “One

year, two years, five years, 10 years, 15 years.”

In 2022 the Finnish government spent about €300m

on support to Ukraine, with €190m towards buying
defence equipment.

18 January 2023 President Zelenskyy addresses the World Economic

Forum and urges world leaders to quickly supply
Ukraine’s army with heavy tanks. He reminds world
leaders that his country did not start the war,
adding:

“The supplying of Ukraine with air defence systems

must outpace Russia’s next missile attacks. The
restoration of security and peace in Ukraine must
outpace Russia’s attacks on security and peace in
other countries.”

25 January 2023 Germany confirms it will make 14 Leopard 2 tanks

available for Ukraine’s war effort.

US President Joe Biden also approves tanks being

made available to Ukraine, pledging 31 M1 Abrams in
a significant escalation in the US effort to counter
Russian aggression. Until now, the US has resisted
providing its own M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, citing
extensive and complex maintenance and logistical
challenges with the hi-tech vehicles.

26 January 2023 The US designates the Russian mercenary group

Wagner as a “significant transnational criminal
organisation”, imposing further sanctions on the
military contractor which has been aiding Moscow in
its invasion of Ukraine, according to the US
Department of the Treasury.

30 January 2023 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says for the
first time Ankara could accept Finland into NATO
without its Nordic neighbour Sweden. Erdoğan’s
televised comments come days after Turkey
suspended NATO accession talks with the two
countries.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urges

South Korea to increase military support to Ukraine,
suggesting it reconsider its policy of not exporting
weapons to countries in conflict.

55 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

Speaking at the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies

in Seoul on Monday, Stoltenberg thanked South
Korea for its non-lethal aid to Ukraine but urged it to
do more as there is an “urgent need” for ammunition.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal, tells

Politico he wants the country to join the EU within two
years, a tight timetable that the EU is likely to find
over-ambitious.

During Defence Questions in the House of Commons,

Ben Wallace says the 14 Challenger tanks the UK will
donate to Ukraine will arrive on the frontline in the
next few months: “It’ll be this side of the summer, or
May - it’ll be probably towards Easter time.”

The President of Croatia, Zoran Milanović, criticises

Western countries for supplying Ukraine with heavy
tanks and other weapons, saying this “prolongs the
war”. He added “it is clear that Crimea will never
again be part of Ukraine.”

31 January 2023 Belarussian President Lukashenko, on a state visit to

Russian ally Zimbabwe, says his country is willing to
offer more assistance to Russia in its war against
Ukraine, although stressing Russia does not need
“any help” right now.

Western allies quash hopes from Kyiv that fighter jets

will soon be offered to help Ukraine’s war effort.

US President Biden, when asked at the White House

late if his country would provide F-16s, answered with
a simple “no”, with a Downing St spokesperson
saying the UK viewed the gifting of fighter jets as
impractical: “These are sophisticated pieces of
equipment. We do not think it is practical to send
those jets into Ukraine.”

1 February 2023 NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warns

Russia and China’s growing relationship poses a
threat to both Asia and Europe. In a speech to Keio
University in Tokyo, Stoltenberg underlined the
importance of stronger cooperation, adding the war
in Ukraine demonstrated “security is not regional buy
global.”

2 February 2023 During a two-day visit to Kyiv with over a dozen

senior EU officials, European Commission president
Ursula von der Leyen announces an international

56 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

centre for the prosecution of crimes in Ukraine will be

set up in The Hague.

Von der Leyen said:

“It will coordinate the collection of evidence, it will

be embedded in the joint investigation team which
is supported by our agency Eurojust.”

The European Commission president also reiterated

the EU aims to have a tenth package of sanctions
against Russia in place by 24 February, the first
anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.

The visit tied with EU pledges to double a military aid

programme for Ukraine by training an additional
15,000 soldiers as part of a series of announcements
aimed at showing the EU will “stand by Ukraine for
the long-haul”.

5 February 2023 The UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, in an

article in the Times of Malta, says helping to arm
Ukraine so it can defend itself against Russia is the
swiftest path to achieving peace:

“Like all authoritarian rulers, Putin responds only

to strength in his opponents. He rejected
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 10-point plan for peace last
December. That is why the UK and Ukraine’s
friends are doing all they can to bring Ukraine
success on the battlefield. And it’s why I’m
delighted that Germany and the US are joining the
UK in sending tanks to the Ukrainians. Giving the
Ukrainians the tools they need to finish the job is
the swiftest – indeed the only – path to peace.”

8 February 2023 President Zelenskyy visits the UK to meet the Prime

Minister, address Parliament, meet the King and visit
Ukrainian troops.

In his address to members of both the Commons and

the Lords in Westminster Hall, Zelenskyy appealed to
the UK to supply Ukraine with fighter jets, saying: “I
appeal to you and the world with simple and yet
most important words: Combat aircrafts – for
Ukraine! Wings – for freedom!”

9 February 2023 President Zelenskyy addresses the European

Parliament during an extraordinary plenary session
in Brussels.

57 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

Opening the session, European Parliament President

Roberta Metsola said to President Zelenskyy: “We
understand that you are fighting not only for your
values, but for ours.”

Zelenskyy’s address was largely themed around

Ukraine’s hopes for future EU membership,
highlighting their shared values and history.

14 February 2023 NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says it is

more important that Finland and Sweden’s
applications to join the alliance, seeking greater
security after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, were
ratified quickly than together.

Both countries applied to join NATO following

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and
their membership bids have been ratified by all allies
except Hungary and Turkey.

15 February 2023 Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson meets

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy on a visit to Kyiv.

Zelenskyy praised Sweden’s cooperation since the

Russian invasion of his country and they discussed
further military assistance and future Ukrainian
membership of the EU. President Zelenskyy noted:

“In the first half of this year, Sweden holds the

Presidency of the Council of the European Union,
so a significant part of our talks today was
devoted to pan-European issues. Together with the
Swedish Presidency, we must ensure everything
necessary to start negotiations on Ukraine's
membership in the European Union this year.”

At a press conference Kristersson does not rule out

sending Gripen fighter jets to aid Ukraine in its war
effort but cautions the West’s response has to be
coordinated. He says:

“We are not ruling anything out. But at the same

time, an international agreement is needed to take
further steps.”

16 February 2023 Norway’s parliament announces it will donate 75

billion kroner (£6.1bn) to Ukraine as part of a five-
year support package, making Norway one of the
world’s biggest donors to Kyiv. The money will be

58 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

split evenly between military and humanitarian

assistance over five years.

Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian President,

says he will order his troops to fight alongside Russia
if another country launches an attack against
Belarus.

17 February 2023 World leaders, military officers and diplomats gather

in Germany for the Munich security conference to
discuss Europe’s security situation following Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine. Some 40 heads of state and
government, as well as politicians and security
experts from almost 100 countries, will attend the
three-day conference.

French President Emmanuel Macron says there can

be no peace in Ukraine until Russia is defeated and
warned Europe had to be ready for a prolonged
conflict: “The hour of dialogue hasn’t come yet,
because Russia chose war. Russia chose to target
civilian infrastructure and commit war crimes.
Russia’s attack must fail.”

18 February 2023 In his speech to the Munich Security Conference, UK

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says now is the time to
“double down” on its support for Ukraine.

Sunak noted the West’s “collective efforts are making

a difference”, but that “with every day that passes,
Russia’s forces are inflicting yet more pain and
suffering”.

19 February 2023 In an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della

Sera, President Zelenskyy accuses his French
counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, of wasting his time
considering peace talks with Russia. Responding to a
suggestion the conflict in Ukraine would have to be
settled by negotiations, Zelenskyy said:

“It will be a useless dialogue. In fact, Macron is

wasting his time. I have come to the conclusion
that we are not able to change the Russian
attitude.”

20 February 2023 President Biden visits the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, to

meet President Zelenskyy and announces a new
package of additional US weapons supplies worth
$500m (£415m).

59 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

21 February 2023 China’s Foreign Minister accuses the US of shifting

blame for the Ukraine war on to China, in an
apparent pushback against warnings from
Washington that China is considering supplying
weapons to Russia.

Speaking at the launch of a Chinese government

paper on its global security initiative, Qin Gang says
China is “deeply concerned” about the war in Ukraine
escalating and possibly “spiralling out of control”.

President Putin gives a long televised national

address to the joint houses of the Russian
Parliament, in which he blames the West for starting
the war in Ukraine and announces Russia will
suspend the New START bilateral nuclear treaty with
the US.

NATO’s Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, says he

regrets Russia’s decision to suspend its participation
in the New START treaty and urges Moscow to
reconsider.

22 February 2023 President Putin revokes a 2012 decree that in part

underpins Moldova's sovereignty in resolving the
future of the Transdniestria region – a Moscow-
backed separatist region which borders Ukraine and
where Russia maintains troops.

China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, meets President Putin

in Moscow, as China and Russia reaffirm their close
bilateral relationship ahead of the one-year
anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In Poland, President Biden meets the leaders of the

Bucharest Nine (B9), a collection of nations on the
most eastern parts of the NATO alliance and closest
to Russia. The alliance includes Bulgaria, the Czech
Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,
Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

23 February 2023 In an address to mark the “Defender of the

Fatherland” holiday, President Putin says Russia will
deploy its new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic
missile, nicknamed “Satan 2”, as well as roll out
hypersonic missiles and new nuclear submarines.

The UN General Assembly adopts a new resolution

calling for the ending of the war in Ukraine and

60 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

demanding Russia’s immediate withdrawal from the

country, in line with the UN Charter.

141 Member States voted in favour and seven against

- Belarus, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua, North Korea,
Russia and Syria. Among the 32 abstentions were
China, India and Pakistan.

24 February 2023 First anniversary of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine.

China releases a new 12-point position paper

outlining its stance on the Ukraine conflict, mostly
reiterating Beijing’s existing standpoint on the
conflict while portraying China as a neutral party and
urging the two sides to begin peace negotiations.

Ukraine cautiously welcomes the paper, with Zhanna

Leshchynska, Ukraine’s Chargé d’Affairs to China,
saying Beijing should hold talks with both sides and
not just Moscow.

Speaking to reporters in Estonia, NATO’s Secretary-

General says “China “doesn’t have much credibility
because they have not been able to condemn the
illegal invasion of Ukraine.”

Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria

Zakharova, welcomes China’s proposals, saying:

We appreciate the sincere desire of our Chinese

friends to contribute to resolving the conflict in
Ukraine by peaceful means... We share the views
of Beijing.

However, Zakharova adds this will also mean

recognising “new territorital realities” in Ukraine,
referring to Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian
regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and
Zaporizhzhia – as well as of Crimea.

27 February 2023 In a news briefing, US State Department

spokesperson Ned Price says China has “very clearly”
taken Russia’s side and has been “anything but an
honest broker” in efforts to bring peace to Ukraine.

Price adds that he hopes China “begins to use its

influence in a constructive way”.

61 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

 Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

5 March – May 2023

Key events
17 March 2023: The International Criminal Court issues an
arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin.
18 March 2023: President Putin visits Crimea to mark the
ninth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of the peninsula.
20-21 March 2023: China’s President Xi Jinping undertakes a
state visit to Russia.
25 March 2023: Russia strikes a deal with neighbouring
Belarus to station tactical nuclear weapons on its territory.
4 April 2023: Finland becomes the 31st member of NATO.
20 April 2023: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg
undertakes his first visit to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion.
15 May 2023: President Zelenskyy travels to Chequers for
talks with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
20 May 2023: President Zelenskyy attends the G7 summit in
Japan to discuss further military support.

1 March 2023 Finland’s parliament approves the country’s bid to

join NATO, with 184 members of the 200-seat
parliament voting in favour, seven against and one
abstaining.

The leaders of China and Belarus, Xi Jinping and

Alexander Lukashenko, issue a joint statement
calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine and negotiations to
bring about a political settlement to the conflict.

The statement expresses “deep concern about the

development of the armed conflict in the European
region and extreme interest in the soonest possible
establishment of peace in Ukraine”.

62 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

2 March 2023 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urges China not to

send weapons to help Russia’s war in Ukraine and
instead asks Beijing to exert pressure on Moscow to
pull back its forces.

In a speech to the German parliament, Scholz says:

My message to Beijing is clear: use your influence

in Moscow to urge the withdrawal of Russian
troops. And don’t deliver any weapons to the
aggressor Russia.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, meet on the
margins of the G20 meeting in New Delhi.

In a 10-minute meeting, understood to be their first

one-to-one in person since Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine in February 2022, Blinken reiterates that the
US is prepared to support Ukraine’s defence for as
long as it takes.

The G20 meeting in New Delhi ends without a joint

statement being agreed. India had wanted to focus
on issues affecting developing nations, but says the
differences over Ukraine “could not be reconciled”.

3 March 2023 US Attorney General Merrick Garland makes an

unannounced trip to Ukraine, traveling to Lviv
following an invitation from the Ukrainian Prosecutor
General to join international partners at the “United
for Justice Conference”.

4 March 2023 Russia’s Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, pays a rare

visit to Russia’s forces in Ukraine, meeting senior
commanders and awarding medals to military
personnel.

Following a meeting with President Zelenskyy in Lyiv,

Roberta Metsola, the President of the European
Parliament, calls for Ukraine to be allowed to begin
EU membership negotiations this year. She adds:
“Ukraine’s future is in the European Union.”

16 March 2023 During a visit to Moldova, UK Foreign Minister James

Cleverly says the best way to protect Moldova from
attack by Russia is to protect Ukraine. He also
announces an additional £10 million to support
economic and governance reforms in Moldova.

63 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

The UN-mandated Independent International

Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine reports that Russia
has committed a wide range of war crimes in
Ukraine, including wilful killings, systemic torture
and the deportation of children.

Poland’s President, Andrzej Duda, says his country

will give four MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in the
coming days, a move that will make Poland the first
NATO member state to fulfil the Ukrainian
government’s requests for such aircraft.

17 March 2023 Slovakia’s Prime Minister, Eduard Heger, approves a

plan to give Ukraine its fleet of 13 Soviet-era MiG-29
fighter jets, becoming the second NATO member
state to respond to President Zelenskyy’s request.

In response, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov

says Russia will destroy the fighter jets:

In the course of the special military operation all

this equipment will be subject to destruction.

It feels like all of these countries are thus engaged

in the disposal of old unnecessary equipment.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says Turkey’s

parliament will start the process of ratifying Finland’s
NATO membership bid, with Finland taking concrete
steps to keep its promises on cracking down on those
who Turkey views as being terrorists.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issues arrest

warrants for President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s
presidential commissioner for children’s rights, Maria
Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova.

In a statement, the ICC says there are “reasonable

grounds” to believe Putin and Lvova-Belova bear
“criminal responsibility” for the “war crime of
unlawful deportation of population (children) and
that of unlawful transfer of population (children)
from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian
Federation”.

Maria Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry

spokesperson, responds to the ICC arrest warrant
against President Putin, saying:

64 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

The decisions of the international criminal court

have no meaning for our country, including from a
legal point of view.

Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the

international criminal court and bears no
obligations under it.

18 March 2023 President Putin visits Crimea to mark the ninth

anniversary of Russia’s annexation of the peninsula.

20 March 2023 Justice ministers from over 40 countries meet in

London to discuss raising funds for the International
Criminal Court to pursue Russian war crimes in
Ukraine.

China’s President Xi Jinping arrives in Moscow for a

two-day state visit, his first visit to Russia for four
years. In remarks upon his arrival, President Xi says
China is ready with Russia “to stand guard over the
world order based on international law”.

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, voices

scepticism over China’s proposals to end the Ukraine
conflict, saying Xi’s visit provides “diplomatic cover
for Russia to continue to commit” war crimes.

21 March 2023 Japan’s Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, visits

President Zelenskyy in Kyiv to underscore Tokyo’s
support for Ukraine. Kishida’s visit means the leaders
of all G7 nations have now visited Ukraine.

On the final day of his state visit to Russia, Xi Jinping

invites Vladimir Putin to visit China this year, in a
symbolic show of support after the ICC issued an
arrest warrant for the Russian president.

At the end of their formal talks, Xi and Putin sign

documents on strategic cooperation. Hua Chunying,
a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign affairs
ministry, says:

President Xi and President Putin signed a joint

statement at the Kremlin on deepening the two
countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership of
coordination for the new era. They stressed that
the Ukraine crisis should be settled through peace
talks.

65 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

22 March 2023 The International Monetary Fund says it has reached

an agreement with Ukraine for a four-year financing
package worth $15.6 billion.

Responding to accusations from President Putin that

the West was “beginning to use weapons with a
nuclear component”, Foreign Secretary James
Cleverly says there is no “nuclear escalation” in the
UK’s decision to supply Ukraine with tank shells made
with depleted uranium.

Sweden’s parliament formally approves a bill to

allow the country to join NATO when its application
has been ratified by all member states in the
alliance.

The vote in the 349-seat Riksdagen passed

overwhelmingly, with 296 members voting in favour
and 37 against. 43 members were absent.

23 March 2023 Addressing the EU summit via video link, Volodymyr

Zelenskyy renews his call for more long-range
weapons and fighter jets from western allies.

Finland’s President, Sauli Niinistö, signs legislation to

make his country part of NATO.

24 March 2023 The air forces of Denmark, Finland, Norway and

Sweden sign a letter of intent to create a unified
Nordic air defence, to counter a rising threat from
Russia.

25 March 2023 Russia strikes a deal with neighbouring Belarus to

station tactical nuclear weapons on its territory.

27 March 2023 Hungary’s parliament approves a bill to allow

Finland to join NATO, with its members voting 182 in
favour and only six against. Turkey is now the only
NATO member state not to have ratified Finland’s
accession.

The bill on Sweden’s NATO accession remains

stranded in the Hungarian parliament, with a vote
yet to be scheduled.

28 March 2023 Belarus’ foreign ministry says it has been forced to

house Russian nuclear weapons on its territory by the

66 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

aggressive actions of NATO countries that threatens

Belarus’s own security.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) issues a

set of recommendations that Russian and Belarusian
athletes be allowed to compete in international
sporting events under a neutral flag.

Several Ukrainian allies react angrily to the IOC’s

recommendations, with Poland’s Deputy Foreign
Minister, Piotr Wawrzyk, calling it a “day of shame”
for the Olympic body.

29 March 2023 The German government agrees to send an

additional €12bn worth of military support to
Ukraine, in a further shift away from its traditional
pacifist stance. €8bn will be spent directly on
purchasing weapons and equipment for Ukraine, with
the other €4bn going to the German military to
replenish stocks.

30 March 2023 Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy addresses the Austrian

parliament via video link, thanking Austria for its
humanitarian assistance and help with projects such
as clearing landmines.

During Zelenskyy’s speech, members from Austria’s

pro-Russia Freedom Party walk out in protest, saying
Austria’s neutrality prevents it from military
involvement in the conflict and sending Ukraine
weapons is a violation.

31 March 2023 Turkey’s parliament approves a bill to allow Finland

to join NATO, meaning all members states have now
ratified Finland’s membership bid.

1 April 2023 Russia takes on the monthly presidency of the 15-

member UN Security Council, in line with a rotation
unaffected by the Ukraine war.

Andriy Yermak, President Zelenskyy’s chief of staff,

criticises the move, calling it a “symbolic blow to the
rules-based system of international relations”.

3 April 2023 Ahead of a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers, the

NATO Secretary-General says allies have delivered
Ukraine with €65bn (£57bn) of military aid.

67 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

4 April 2023 Finland becomes the 31st member of NATO, with

Pekka Haavisto, the Finnish foreign minister,
completing the accession process by depositing its
instrument of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty.

5 April 2023 French President Emmanuel Macron and European

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrive in
China for a three-day state visit that will see them
meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Speaking from the French embassy in Beijing,

President Macron tells reporters that China can play
a “major role” in the war in Ukraine and that Moscow
should not be allowed to have an exclusive dialogue
with Beijing.

6 April 2023 President Macron says he and his Chinese

counterpart, Xi Jinping, have discussed the war in
Ukraine and they agreed that nuclear weapons
should be excluded from the Ukraine conflict.

In her meeting with President Xi, Ursula von der

Leyen says she encouraged him speak to Ukraine’s
President Zelenskyy.

On the second day of his visit to Russia, Belarus’

President Alexander Lukashenko co-chairs a meeting
of the Supreme State Council of the Union State with
President Putin. They discuss expanding economic
cooperation and bolstering defence ties between the
two countries.

11 April 2023 Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal travels to

Canada and meets Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,
who announces a package of additional military aid
that Canada will provide to Ukraine.

13 April 2023 Norway’s foreign ministry announces it will expel 15

Russian embassy officials in Oslo, claiming they are
intelligence officers operating under the cover of
diplomatic positions.

In a statement, Norwegian Foreign Minister, Anniken

Huitfeldt, says:

The government’s decision is in response to the

changed security situation in Europe, which has
led to an increased intelligence threat from Russia.

68 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

This is an important step in countering, and

reducing the level of, Russian intelligence activity
in Norway, and thus in safeguarding our national
interests.

15 April 2023 In a visit to China, the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio

Lula da Silva, says “the US needs to stop encouraging
war and start talking about peace” between Ukraine
and Russia.

Lula also reveals he and President Xi discussed

forming a group of like-minded leaders.

16 April 2023 More than 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war are

released and returned home in a “great Easter
exchange”, a senior Ukrainian presidential official
says.

19 April 2023 Speaking at a lunch with Romanian President Klaus

Iohannis, Brazil’s President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva,
condemns the “violation of Ukraine’s territorial
integrity” by Russia and calls for mediation to end
the war. This follows Lula receiving criticism for his
previous comments on the conflict.

20 April 2023 NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg

undertakes his first visit to Kyiv since Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine 14 months earlier.

In a joint press conference with President Zelenskyy,

Jens Stoltenberg underscores his commitment to
Ukraine becoming a NATO member state, saying:

Let me be clear: Ukraine’s rightful place is in the

euro-Atlantic family. Ukraine’s rightful place is in
NATO. And over time, our support will help you to
make this possible.

22 April 2023 After a meeting with the Portuguese President,

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in Lisbon, Brazil’s
President Lula calls for a “negotiated” settlement to
the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He tells journalists:

While my government condemns the violation of

Ukraine’s territorial integrity, we support a
negotiated political solution to the conflict.

23 April 2023 The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, says

Moscow “will not forgive” Washington for denying US

69 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

visas to Russian journalists who were meant to

accompany him on a visit to UN headquarters.

24 April 2023 Sergei Lavrov chairs a UN Security Council meeting

on “Maintenance of international peace and
security”, with the UN representatives from the US,
the UK and Switzerland using their speeches to
condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

26 April 2023 Following his first telephone conversation with

President Zelenskyy, Chinese President Xi Jinping
announces he will send a delegation to Ukraine to
hold talks with all parties on resolving the conflict
between Russia and Ukraine.

11 May 2023 The UK Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, confirms

reports that the UK is providing Ukraine with long-
range Storm Shadow missiles.

13 May 2023 President Zelenskyy visits Italy and the Vatican to

hold talks with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni,
President Sergio Mattarella and Pope Francis.

The trip is Zelenskyy’s first to Italy since Russia

invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

In a joint press conference following her talks with

Zelenskyy, Giorgia Meloni promises Italy’s full
support to Ukraine in its efforts to repel Russia’s
“brutal and unjust aggression”.

14 May 2023 President Zelenskyy visits Germany for talks with

Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter
Steinmeier.

On his first visit to Germany since Russia’s invasion,

Zelenskyy thanks Scholz for Germany’s “powerful
support” in the form of a new armaments package,
saying “everything in this security package will
significantly strengthen our defence.”

Later, Zelenskyy visits Paris for talks with President

Emmanuel Macron, with France promising Ukraine
dozens more light tanks and armoured vehicles.

15 May 2023 Volodymyr Zelenskyy travels to Chequers, the UK

Prime Minister’s country retreat in Buckinghamshire
for talks with Rishi Sunak.

70 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

Sunak confirms a further UK provision of hundreds of

air defence missiles and further unmanned aerial
systems, saying:

This is a crucial moment in Ukraine’s resistance to

a terrible war of aggression they did not choose or
provoke. They need the sustained support of the
international community to defend against the
barrage of unrelenting and indiscriminate attacks
that have been their daily reality for over a year.
We must not let them down.

17 May 2023 Li Hui, China’s special representative for Eurasian

affairs and former ambassador to Russia, arrives in
Ukraine on a two-day visit and meets President
Zelenskyy, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and other
Ukrainian officials.

Dmytro Kuleba tells Li Hui that Kyiv will not accept

any proposals to end the war with Russia that involve
it losing territory or freezing the conflict.

18 May 2023 Following a meeting between President Zelenskyy

and Li Hui, China’s Foreign Ministry says the two
countries agreed to their mutually beneficial
cooperation moving forward. The statement adds:

China has always played a constructive role in

alleviating the humanitarian situation in Ukraine in
its own way and will continue to provide assistance
to Ukraine within its capacity.

19 May 2023 On his first trip to Saudi Arabia, President Zelenskyy

meets Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and
attends the Arab League Summit in Jeddah.

Addressing the Arab League leaders, Zelenskyy

comments “some” Arab countries were “turning a
blind eye” to Russia's invasion of his country, but
thanks Mohammed bin Salman for his “support for
the territorial integrity” of Ukraine.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Faisal bin Farhan,

responds to Zelenskyy’s comments and says Arab
countries have taken a position of “positive
neutrality” regarding the crisis in Ukraine.

20 May 2023 President Zelenskyy visits Japan, to attend the G7

summit in Hiroshima and discuss greater military
support from the US and other G7 countries.

71 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

In its final communique (PDF) from the summit, the

G7 condemns Russia’s “brutal” war on Ukraine “in the
strongest possible terms”, calling it a “serious
violation of international law”. The section on
Ukraine reads:

We once again condemn in the strongest possible

terms the war of aggression by Russia against
Ukraine, which constitutes a serious violation of
international law, including the UN Charter.

Russia’s brutal war of aggression represents a

threat to the whole world in breach of fundamental
norms, rules and principles of the international
community. We reaffirm our unwavering support
for Ukraine for as long as it takes to bring a
comprehensive, just and lasting peace.

We issued the G7 leaders’ statement on Ukraine,

and with the clear intention and concrete actions
set forth in it, we commit to intensifying our
diplomatic, financial, humanitarian and military
support for Ukraine, to increasing the costs to
Russia and those supporting its war efforts, and to
continuing to counter the negative impacts of the
war on the rest of the world, particularly on the
most vulnerable people.

24 May 2023 Rishi Sunak tells a defence conference in London that

Ukraine’s Western allies are prepared to support the
country in the war “for years”.

25 May 2023 Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian president,

confirms that the relocation of some tactical nuclear
weapons from Russia to Belarus has started. This is
the Kremlin’s first deployment of such bombs outside
of Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.

72 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

 Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

6 June – August 2023

Key events
16-17 June 2023: Leaders from seven African nations visit
Ukraine and Russia on a self-styled “peace mission”.
21-22 June 2023: The Ukraine Recovery Conference takes
place in London, co-hosted by the UK and Ukraine.
22 June 2023: Senior EU officials say Ukraine has completed
two of the seven steps outlined by the bloc for Kyiv to be
granted the status of a candidate for EU membership.
11-12 July 2023: The NATO Summit takes place in Vilnius,
Lithuania, with support for Ukraine and its future
membership of the alliance among the key issues on the
agenda.
20 July 2023: Russia imposes restrictions on British
diplomats within the country, requiring them to give five
days’ notice of any plans to travel beyond a 120km (75-mile)
radius.
21 July 2023: President Zelenskyy dismisses Ukraine’s
ambassador to London, Vadym Prystaiko.
31 August 2023: UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace resigns
after four years in the post. Grant Shapps is subsequently
appointed to the position.

1 June 2023 At a summit in Moldova, Zelenskyy says he has

received “powerful support” from allies and that F-16
fighter jets could be made available to Ukraine within
six months.

Zelenskyy also urges the international community to

put concrete “security guarantees” in place in
Ukraine and Moldova, to give the countries lasting
protection against Russia.

73 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

2 June 2023 On the fringes of the Shangri-La dialogue security

meeting in Singapore, UK Defence Secretary Ben
Wallace says the path is open to Ukraine joining
NATO, although political realities may slow the
process as it would not be possible to add members
in the middle of a war.

7 June 2023 Former NATO Secretary-General, Anders Fogh

Rasmussen, says a group of NATO countries may be
willing to put troops on the ground in Ukraine if
member states do not provide tangible security
guarantees to Kyiv at the alliance’s upcoming
summit in Vilnius.

9 June 2023 In talks at the White House, US President Joe Biden

and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterate their
commitment to helping Ukraine repel Russia’s
ongoing invasion.

10 June 2023 Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, visits Kyiv

and announces $500 million in new military aid for
Ukraine. While in Kyiv, Trudeau holds talks with
President Zelenskyy and addresses Ukraine's
parliament.

16 June 2023 Seven African leaders visit Ukraine as part of a self-

styled “peace mission” to both Ukraine and Russia.

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy asks the African

leaders (the Presidents of Comoros, Senegal, South
Africa and Zambia, plus Egypt’s Prime Minister and
top envoys from the Republic of Congo and Uganda)
to urge the Russian President to free political
prisoners from Crimea.

17 June 2023 The African “peace mission” delegation visits

President Putin in St Petersburg, but the meeting
ends with no visible progress being made.

After the three-hour meeting, Kremlin spokesman

Dmitry Peskov comments: “The peace initiative
proposed by African countries is very difficult to
implement, difficult to compare positions.”

21-22 June 2023 The Ukraine Recovery Conference takes place in

London, co-hosted by the UK and Ukraine.

The conference focuses on “mobilising international

support for Ukraine’s economic and social

74 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

stabilisation and recovery from the effects of war,

including through emergency assistance for
immediate needs and financing private sector
participation in the reconstruction process”.

22 June 2023 Senior EU officials say Ukraine has completed two of

the seven steps outlined by the bloc for Kyiv to be
granted the status of a candidate for EU
membership.

The assessment, by the European Commission, offers

Ukraine hope that it could achieve its aim of getting
the green light for membership talks in December
2023.

Olivér Várhelyi, the European Commissioner for

relations with the EU’s neighbours, notes: “They
[Ukraine] are on track, they are working hard. After
all, the country is under attack.”

24 June 2023 President Putin says in an emergency televised

address that an “armed mutiny” by the Wagner
Group mercenary force was treason, and that anyone
who had taken up arms against the Russian military
would be punished.

Putin says he will do everything to protect Russia and

that “resolute action” will be taken to stabilise the
situation in Rostov-on-Don, a southern city where
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces had
taken control of all military installations.

29 June 2023 Russia’s ambassador to Switzerland, Sergei

Garmonin, says Moscow could not accept any Swiss-
hosted peace summit on Ukraine after it joined EU
sanctions against his country, adding that
Switzerland had lost its reputation for neutrality.

3 July 2023 The International Centre for the Prosecution of the

Crime of Aggression (ICPA) begins its work in The
Hague, in the first step towards a possible tribunal
for Russia’s leadership.

The ICPA provides a structure to support and

enhance ongoing and future investigations into the
crime of aggression and contribute to the exchange
and analysis of evidence gathered since the start of
the Russian aggression.

75 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

4 July 2023 NATO confirms its Secretary-General, Jens

Stoltenberg, will remain in post for an additional year
and will not step down until October 2024.

6 July 2023 President Zelenskyy visits Sofia, Bulgaria, in the first

stop of a tour of European allies.

After talks with Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai

Denkov, Zelenskyy says he has invited the country to
participate in the reconstruction effort in Ukraine and
urges Bulgaria to maintain its military support.

Zelenskyy later visits the Czech capital, Prague, and

is welcomed by his Czech counterpart, Petr Pavel. At
a joint press conference, Zelenskyy says Ukraine
would like a “clear signal” “in the direction of an
invitation” to join NATO during the upcoming summit
in Lithuania.

7 July 2023 President Zelenskyy visits Slovakia and holds talks

with Slovakia’s President Zuzana Čaputová, Prime
Minister Ľudovít Ódor and Speaker of the National
Council, Boris Kollar.

Zelenskyy later visits Turkey for talks with President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Following their talks,
President Erdoğan says: “Without a doubt, Ukraine
deserves to be in NATO.”

9 July 2023 In an interview with CNN, US President Joe Biden says

Ukraine is “not yet ready” to become a member of
NATO, adding: “NATO is a process that takes some
time to meet all the qualifications - from
democratisation to a whole range of other issues.”

11 July 2023 NATO’s 2023 summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, opens, with

support for Ukraine and its future membership of the
organisation among the key issues on the summit’s
agenda.

12 July 2023 The NATO Secretary-General outlines a three-part,

multi-year package that will bring “Ukraine closer to
NATO”.

The plan establishes “a new NATO-Ukraine Council

that will hold its inaugural meeting later that day.

On Twitter, President Zelenskyy welcomes the

institutional certainty that the Council provides, but

76 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

adds that the majority of Ukraine’s citizens expect

specifics about the conditions Ukraine must meet in
order to join NATO.

The leaders of the G7 sign a joint declaration

outlining the long-term security and economic
support they plan to provide to Ukraine, as well as
support to facilitate a “reform agenda” that will
provide Ukraine with “the good governance
necessary to advance towards its Euro-Atlantic
aspirations”.

13 July 2023 The US Secretary of Defence, Lloyd Austin, tells CNN

he has “no doubt” that Ukraine will become part of
NATO after Russia’s war against the country ends.

15 July 2023 South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol visits

President Zelenskyy in Kyiv and pledges to increase
his country’s humanitarian and non-lethal military
assistance to Ukraine.

Yoon adds that humanitarian aid will be increased to

$150m in 2023, up from $100m in 2022.

17 July 2023 Sweden’s government pledges 6bn krona (£450m) in

aid to rebuild Ukraine and facilitate reforms to pave
the way for EU membership. This is Sweden’s largest-
ever bilateral development package.

19 July 2023 South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa confirms

President Vladimir Putin will not be attending the
upcoming BRICS Summit in Johannesburg.

Instead, Russia will be represented by Russian

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by mutual agreement,
following South African concerns about an ICC arrest
warrant for Putin.

20 July 2023 Russia imposes restrictions on British diplomats

within the country, requiring them to give five days’
notice of any plans to travel beyond a 120km (75-
mile) radius, due to what it called London’s “hostile
actions”.

21 July 2023 President Zelenskyy dismisses Ukraine’s ambassador

to London, Vadym Prystaiko.

At the Aspen Security Forum, the head of France’s

diplomatic team, Emmanuel Bonne, says China is

77 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

delivering items that could be used as military

equipment to Russia, albeit not on a massive scale.

25 July 2023 President Zelenskyy says Ukraine is “not slowing

down the pace” of its ambitions to join NATO.

26 July 2023 Russia’s parliament votes to raise the maximum age

at which men can be conscripted to 30 from 27,
increasing the number of young men liable for a year
of compulsory military service.

27 July 2023 Moldova orders 45 Russian diplomats and embassy

staff to leave the country, sharply reducing the
number of officials Russia can have in its capital
Chișinău.

At a meeting of the Cabinet, Moldova’s Foreign

Minister, Nicu Popescu, says:

We agreed on the need to limit the number of

accredited diplomats from Russia, so that there
are fewer people trying to destabilize the Republic
of Moldova.

For many years we have been the object of hostile

Russian actions and policies. Many of them were
made through the embassy.

28 July 2023 Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin

Abdulrahman al-Thani, who also serves as Foreign
Minister, visits Ukraine. Whilst there, he announces
Qatar will provide Ukraine with $100m in
humanitarian aid to support health, education and
demining.

14 August 2023 Twenty-two Russian diplomats leave Moldova, as

relations between the two countries deteriorate.
Moldovan officials say the reduction of staff at the
Russian embassy, from 80 to 25 personnel, will
establish parity with Moldova’s embassy in Moscow.

In response, Russia’s Foreign Ministry issues a

statement saying: “This unfriendly step of official
Chisinau will undoubtedly have consequences for
Russian-Moldovan relations.”

17 August 2023 President Lukashenko dismisses suggestions that

President Putin is trying to push Belarus into joining
the war in Ukraine, saying:

78 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

To involve Belarus … what will that give? Nothing.

If you Ukrainians do not cross our border, we will

never participate in this war. In this hot war. But
we will always help Russia - they are our allies.

18 August 2023 The US approves Denmark and the Netherlands

sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine as soon as pilot
training is completed.

Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s Minister of Defence

announces Sweden has approved a €270m security
assistance package for Ukraine.

20 August 2023 President Zelenskyy visits both Denmark and the

Netherlands and receives assurances that F-16
fighter jets will be delivered to Ukraine around New
Year.

21 August 2023 Russia condemns the decision by Denmark and the

Netherlands to donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine,
saying the move would escalate the war. In a
statement cited by the Ritzau news agency, Vladimir
Barbin, the Russian ambassador to Denmark, says:

The fact that Denmark has now decided to donate

19 F-16 aircraft to Ukraine leads to an escalation of
the conflict.

By hiding behind a premise that Ukraine itself must

determine the conditions for peace, Denmark
seeks with its actions and words to leave Ukraine
with no other choice but to continue the military
confrontation with Russia.

President Zelenskyy addresses the Danish parliament

in Copenhagen, thanking Danish politicians for
helping his country resist Russia’s invasion with the
promise of F-16 fighter jets.

In his address, Zelenskyy warns other parts of Europe

would be at risk from Russia’s military aggression if it
succeeded in the war in Ukraine.

Later, Zelenskyy travels to Athens to hold talks with

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

23 August 2023 The leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny

Prigozhin, is reportedly killed in a plane crash over
Russia.

79 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

28 August 2023 In a phone call, President Putin tells India’s Prime

Minister Narendra Modi that Russia will be
represented by its foreign minister at the upcoming
G20 summit in New Delhi.

31 August 2023 UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace resigns after four

years in the post. Grant Shapps is subsequently
appointed to the position.

80 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

 Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

7 September – December 2023

Key events
6 September 2023: Rustem Umerov is appointed Ukraine’s
defence minister, replacing Oleksii Reznikov.
12 September 2023: Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin hold a
summit in Russia to discuss a possible deal to supply North
Korean arms for the war in Ukraine.
15 September 2023: In talks with President Putin, Alexander
Lukashenko suggests Belarus could revive an old alliance
with Russia and North Korea.
20 September 2023: President Zelenskyy addresses the UN
General Assembly in person for the first time since Russia
began its invasion of his country in February 2022.
7 December 2023: Russia’s Federation Council announces
the 2024 presidential election will take place on 17 March. It
is later announced that voting will also take place in the four
regions of Ukraine annexed by Russia in 2022.

4 September 2023 Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, submits

his resignation letter to the chairman of parliament,
a day after President Zelenskyy announced he would
be replacing his defence minister.

Reznikov tweets:

I have submitted my letter of resignation to Ruslan

Stefanchuk, Chairman of the Parliament of
Ukraine.

It was an honor to serve the Ukrainian people and

work for the #UAarmy for the last 22 months, the
toughest period of Ukraine’s modern history.

Turkey’s President Erdoğan arrives in Russia’s Black

Sea resort of Sochi for talks with President Putin to
discuss current regional and global issues, as well as

81 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

bilateral ties. There was no agreement on the Black

Sea grain deal.

6 September 2023 Ukraine’s parliament votes to approve the

appointment of Rustem Umerov as the country’s new
defence minister.

Umerov is a leading member of the Crimean Tatar

community who has represented Ukraine in sensitive
negotiations with Russia.

9 September 2023 On the opening day of the G20 summit in Delhi,

India’s prime minister Narendra Modi announces the
bloc has adopted a consensus declaration on issues
including the war in Ukraine.

The final statement highlights the “human suffering

and the adverse impact of wars and conflicts around
the world,” (PDF) including Ukraine, but does not
mention Russia’s invasion.

Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign

ministry, says the G20’s joint declaration is “nothing
to be proud of” and criticised it for not mentioning
Russia.

12 September 2023 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrives in Russia

for a rare summit with President Putin to discuss a
possible deal to supply North Korean arms for the
war in Ukraine.

Kim’s trip to Russia and meeting with Putin will be a

full-scale visit to strengthen ties, Kremlin
spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says in a video posted
online.

G7 foreign ministers condemn the staging of what

they call “sham elections” by Russia in occupied
Ukrainian territories. The G7 statement, published by
the UK’s Foreign Office, reads:

We … unequivocally condemn the staging of sham

‘elections’ held by Russia on sovereign Ukrainian
territory in Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk,
Zaporizhzhia oblasts and Crimea.

These sham ‘elections’ are a further violation of the

independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity
of Ukraine and of the UN Charter.

82 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

Russia has no legitimate basis for any such actions

on the territory of Ukraine. The sham ‘elections’
are a propaganda exercise aimed at legitimising
Russia’s illegal seizure of Ukrainian territory.

13 September 2023 In her annual address to the European Parliament,

European Commission President, Ursula von der
Leyen, says Ukraine has made “great strides” to join
the EU since being granted candidate status in 2022
and offers the bloc’s enduring support.

Speaking at Russia’s Vostochny cosmodrome, Kim

Jong-un pledges to support all of Russia’s decisions,
telling President Putin:

Russia has risen to a sacred fight to protect its

sovereignty and security against the hegemonic
forces.

We will always support the decisions of President

Putin and the Russian leadership... and we will be
together in the fight against imperialism.

15 September 2023 President Putin hosts a meeting with his Belarusian

ally and counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, who
suggests Minsk could join Moscow’s efforts to revive
an old alliance with North Korea following this week’s
summit with Kim Jong-un.

18 September 2023 The Ukrainian government dismisses six deputy

defence ministers following the appointment of a new
defence minister earlier this month. Those removed
from their post include Hanna Maliar, who has
frequently issued public updates on Russia’s war
against Ukraine.

Russia’s foreign ministry says it has summoned

French ambassador Pierre Levy to protest over what
it called the “discriminatory and openly
Russophobic” actions of French authorities against
Russian journalists at the recent G20 summit in New
Delhi.

20 September 2023 President Zelenskyy addresses the United Nations

General Assembly in person for the first time since
Russia began its invasion of his country in February
2022. In his speech, Zelenskyy urges UN Member
States to come together to oppose Russian
aggression and to recognise Ukraine’s territorial
integrity.

83 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

21 September 2023 President Zelenskyy undertakes his second visit to

Washington during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

During his visit, Zelenskyy meets US President Joe

Biden and has a further meeting with leaders of the
Republican-led House of Representatives and House
national security committees, before a private
session with the full US Senate.

22 September 2023 Following his visit to the US, President Zelenskyy

travels to Canada to meet Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau and addresses the Canadian parliament in
Ottawa.

23 September 2023 President Zelenskyy announces he has held an

impromptu meeting with the head of the Sudanese
sovereign council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, where
they discussed Russia-funded armed groups. The
impromptu meeting took place in Shannon airport
and Zelenskyy thanked Sudan for its support of
Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

25 September 2023 Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, says his

country is not in a hurry to ratify Sweden’s NATO
accession, signalling a further delay in a process that
has been stranded in the Hungarian parliament since
July 2022.

28 September 2023 UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps visits President

Zelenskyy in Kyiv and promises further military
support from the UK. The visit is Shapps’s first to
Ukraine since becoming defence secretary last
month.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also visits

Kyiv, with Zelenskyy describing NATO as a “defacto”
ally and saying it is “only a matter of time before
Ukraine becomes a de jure one as well”.

2 October 2023 At a surprise meeting of EU foreign ministers in Kyiv,

Ukraine is told it is “absolutely possible” that EU
membership talks could begin this year.

10 October 2023 Russia is defeated in its attempt to regain a seat in

the UN’s top human rights body, which voted last
year to suspend Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine.

84 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

In a secret ballot at the General Assembly, Russia

won 83 votes, while Albania received 123 and
Bulgaria got 160.

12 October 2023 The International Olympic Committee suspends the

Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) for recognising
regional organisations from four territories annexed
from Ukraine.

The ROC denounces the decision, saying:

The IOC has taken yet another counterproductive,

politically motivated decision. Russian athletes,
the majority of which are still groundlessly banned
from international performances, are not affected
in any way by this step.

13 October 2023 The White House says North Korea has provided
Russia with a shipment of weapons, calling it a
troubling development and raising concerns about
the expanded military relationship between the two
countries.

Later reports highlight ongoing arms transfer activity

at Najin Port.

17 October 2023 China’s president, Xi Jinping, welcomes his “dear

friend” Vladimir Putin to Beijing, where
representatives of 130 countries are attending a
forum on Xi’s vast trade and infrastructure project,
the belt and road initiative.

This is Putin’s second known trip abroad since the

International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant
for his arrest in March.

In a unanimous vote, the State Duma, the lower

house of the Russian parliament, gives preliminary
approval to a bill revoking the ratification of the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

18 October 2023 The lower house of the Russian parliament, the State
Duma, passes the second and third readings of a bill
revoking Russia’s ratification of the comprehensive
nuclear test ban treaty (CTBT). Both stages are
passed unanimously by 415 votes to zero.

28 October 2023 A third round of Ukrainian-backed peace talks opens

in Malta, with representatives from more than 50

85 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

countries, to discuss Zelenskyy’s 10-point formula for

peace with Russia.

4 November 2023 During a visit to Kyiv, European Commission

President Ursula von der Leyen says Ukraine has
made “excellent progress” towards EU accession.

7 November 2023 Russia withdraws from the conventional armed

forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, a security treaty that
limited key categories of conventional armed forces.

Russia’s foreign ministry says Moscow had formally

withdrawn from the pact at midnight and that the
treaty was now “history”.

8 November 2023 At a G7 meeting in Japan, the bloc’s foreign ministers

insist that their support for Ukraine “will never
waver”, despite growing tensions in the Middle East.

Slovakia’s new government rejects a previously

drafted plan to donate rockets and ammunition to
Ukraine, following through on a pledge by incoming
Prime Minister Robert Fico to halt military aid to Kyiv.

13 November 2023 Former UK Prime Minister David Cameron is

appointed Foreign Secretary. The government
confirms he will enter the House of Lords in order to
serve as a minister.

16 November 2023 In his first overseas visit as foreign secretary, David

Cameron, meets President Zelenskyy in Kyiv,
pledging continued military support and a refocus on
Ukraine as conflict continues in the Middle East.

17 November 2023 David Cameron visits Moldova and discusses security

in the Black Sea and bilateral cooperation with
Moldovan President Maia Sandu.

21 November 2023 The UN Human Right Office reports that more than
10,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since
Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

28 November 2023 NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urges

members of the alliance to continue supporting
Ukraine in its conflict against Russia, amid
opposition in the US to a military aid package and

86 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

some resistance in Europe for a longer-term support

plan for Kyiv.

7 December 2023 Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation

Council, votes to set the date of the 2024 presidential
election as 17 March, moving Vladimir Putin closer to
a fifth term in office and the opportunity to remain in
power until at least 2030.

11 December 2023 Russia’s Central Elections Commission says it plans

to allow voting for the 2024 presidential election to
go ahead in the four regions of Ukraine that it
annexed it 2022. In response, Ukraine says any
Russian vote in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and
Zaporizhzhia will be null and void and that it will
prosecute any observers sent to monitor voting.

12 December 2023 President Zelenskyy visits the US for talks with

President Biden and, separately, members of
Congress in Washington DC.

14 December 2023 In a televised end-of-year press conference,

President Putin says “there will only be peace in
Ukraine when we achieve our aims”, and calls for the
“denazification of Ukraine, its demilitarisation”.

87 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

 Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

8 2024

Key events
7 December 2023: Russia’s Federation Council announces
the 2024 presidential election will take place on 17 March. It
is later announced that voting will also take place in the four
regions of Ukraine annexed by Russia in 2022.
12 January 2024: Rishi Sunak visits Kyiv to sign a new
security agreement and announce further military funding.
1 February 2024: EU leaders unanimously approve a €50
billion plan to support Ukraine for the next four years.
24 February 2024: On the second anniversary of Russia’s
invasion, several western leaders visit Ukraine to show
solidarity.
15-17 March 2024: The presidential election in Russia takes
place. Putin wins the election, securing a fifth term in office.
25 April 2024: The UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer meets
President Zelenskyy in Kyiv to discuss sanctions against
Russia.
16-17 May 2024: President Putin carries out a two-day state
visit to China. Following talks with Xi Jinping, the two
leaders pledge a “new era” of partnership.
11-12 June 2024: The Ukraine Recovery Conference takes
place in Germany.
13 June 2024: The US signs a bilateral security commitment
with Ukraine.
15-16 June 2024: The Ukraine Peace Summit takes place in
Switzerland.
25 June 2024: The European Union formally launches
accession talks with Ukraine.
27 June 2024: The European Union signs a security
agreement with Ukraine.

88 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

5 July 2024: On his first day as Prime Minister, Sir Keir

Starmer speaks to President Zelenskyy and reiterates the
UK’s unwavering commitment to Ukraine.
9-11 July 2024: The NATO Summit takes place in Washington
DC, with the alliance making several further pledges of
support to Ukraine.
19 July 2024: UK prime minister Keir Starmer welcomes
President Zelenskyy to Downing Street, the first foreign
leader to visit No10 since he became prime minister.
6 August 2024: Ukraine launches an offensive into Russian
territory, with an aide to President Zelenskyy suggesting the
aim of the incursion was to bring Russia to the negotiating
table for peace talks.
21 August 2024: Ukraine’s parliament votes in favour of
joining the International Criminal Court (ICC).
2 September 2024: Putin arrives in Mongolia for a state
visit, his first to an ICC member since it issued a warrant for
his arrest.
11 September 2024: The US secretary of state and UK foreign
secretary undertake a joint visit to Ukraine.
13 September 2024: The UK prime minister meets President
Biden for talks in Washington DC, where they “reaffirm their
unwavering support for Ukraine”.
19 November 2024: Foreign Secretary David Lammy
reaffirms the UK government’s support for Ukraine on the
1,000th day of the war.
5 December 2024: Donald Trump wins the US presidential
election.

1 January 2024 In his New Year address, President Zelenskyy vows to

unleash “wrath” against Russian forces in 2024, saying
Ukraine has become stronger as the war moves toward
its second year.

5 January 2024 In a briefing, John Kirby, the US’s national security

council spokesperson, says North Korea is providing
Russia with ballistic missile launchers and ballistic
missiles. The US intelligence assessment is that Iranian

89 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

missiles have not yet arrived in Russia, but that the deal
will eventually be done.

Posting on X (formerly Twitter), the UK Defence

Secretary, Grant Shapps, says “we’ll make sure North
Korea pays a high price for supporting Russia.”

11 January 2024 Ukraine’s parliament refuses to debate a bill aimed at

drafting more soldiers, amid fierce criticism from
lawmakers and the public.

Ukrainian MPs criticised certain measures included in

the bill as unconstitutional. Some clauses caused
particular outrage, such as limiting draft dodgers from
their right to own property and to freely use their
personal money.

12 January 2024 Prime Minister Sunak visits Kyiv to sign a new security
agreement and announce an increase in military
funding for Ukraine.

24 January 2024 Writing in an article for Politico, Grant Shapps says the
UK’s allies must increase their Ukraine military aid:
“Kyiv needs more support — and not just from the
United Kingdom. Our fellow allies must step up too.”

1 February 2024 European Union leaders unanimously approve a €50

billion plan to support Ukraine for the next four years.

The deal, known as the “Ukraine Facility“, consists of

€17 billion in grants and €33 billion in loans, designed
to help Ukraine rebuild and recover from the war.

8 February 2024 In a two-hour interview with former Fox News host

Tucker Carlson, President Putin says the US “needs to
stop supplying weapons” to Ukraine. The interview is
Putin’s first with a western media outlet since Russia
invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

16 February 2024 President Zelenskyy visits Germany and France, signing

security pacts with both countries, committing further
support to Ukraine from each.

24 February 2024 Four western leaders, including the prime ministers of

Italy, Canada, and Belgium, visit Kyiv to show solidarity
with Ukraine on the second anniversary of Russia’s
invasion. Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Canada’s Justin
Trudeau, Belgium’s Alexander De Croo and the

90 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

president of the European Commission, Ursula von der

Leyen, travelled to the Ukrainian capital together on an
overnight train from neighbouring Poland.

26 February 2024 Hungary’s parliament approves a bill to allow Sweden

to join NATO, clearing the way for the Nordic country to
join the alliance after months of delay.

27 February 2024 Several European countries say they are not

considering sending ground troops to Ukraine after
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, said he refused
to rule out sending soldiers to the country. The UK,
Germany, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Poland, Italy
and Hungary all rule out the move, as does the NATO
Secretary-General.

7 March 2024 Sweden becomes NATO’s 32nd member state, upon

depositing its instrument of accession to the North
Atlantic Treaty with the US government in Washington
DC.

8 March 2024 Andriy Yermak, the head of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s

office, meets with a delegation headed by Li Hui, the
Chinese government’s special representative for
Eurasian affairs. They discuss China-Ukraine relations
and the war in Ukraine.

11 March 2024 The chairs of foreign affairs committees in 23

parliaments issue a joint statement rejecting the
legitimacy of elections conducted by Russia in the
Ukrainian territories it has annexed.

15 March 2024 Three days of voting begins in Russia and in the

annexed regions of Ukraine. There is no serious
challenge to President Putin securing another term in
office.

17 March 2024 In the Russian presidential election, Putin wins 87% of

the vote, securing a fifth term in office. The result
means Putin will overtake Joseph Stalin to become
Russia’s longest-serving leader in more than 200 years.

18 March 2024 At an open-air concert in Moscow’s Red Square, to

mark the 10th anniversary of Russia’s annexation of
Crimea from Ukraine, Putin says Crimea had “returned
to its home harbour” and would move forwards with
Russia “hand in hand”.

91 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

20 March 2024 A report issued by the UN Human Rights Office (PDF)

accuses Russia of torturing and arbitrarily detaining
people in occupied Ukraine, creating a “climate of
fear”.

In a press release accompanying the report, the UN

says Russia has imposed its “language, citizenship,
laws, court system, and education curricula on the
occupied areas”.

21 March 2024 Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, addresses

the European Council summit via videoconference and
calls for more help with air defences and ammunition,
as well for progress on Ukraine’s path towards
European integration.

2 April 2024 The Register of Damages for Ukraine opens in The

Hague, as part of a Ministerial Conference on
“Restoring Justice for Ukraine”. The conference brings
together the Council of Europe, heads of international
organisations, and ministers and senior officials from
more than 60 states.

9 April 2024 UK foreign secretary David Cameron visits former US

president Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence,
to discuss a new aid package for Ukraine that is being
held up in Congress.

15 April 2024 President Macron of France calls for a truce in

international conflicts during the Paris Olympics.
Referencing the Israel-Hamas conflict, the war in
Ukraine and the ongoing conflict in Sudan, Macron
says: “We will work on an Olympic truce. It is something
on which I will actually try to engage many of our
partners.”

16 April 2024 Russia reacts coolly to the suggestion of an Olympics

truce, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying
both President Putin and the Russian military had
“noticed that, as a rule, the Kyiv regime uses such
ideas, such initiatives to try to regroup, to try to rearm,
and so on and so forth”.

24 April 2024 At a press conference in Berlin, UK Prime Minister Rishi

Sunak and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz agree to
closer defence cooperation between the two allies, with

92 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

both leaders saying Europe must unite to support

Ukraine against Russia “for as long as it takes”.

25 April 2024 The UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt,

meets President Zelenskyy in Kyiv and discuss sanctions
against Russia.

7 May 2024 Addressing dignitaries after being sworn in for a new

six-year term, President Putin says he has not rejected
dialogue with the West, saying:

The choice is theirs: do they intend to continue

trying to restrain the development of Russia,
continue the policy of aggression, incessant
pressure on our country for years, or look for a
path to cooperation and peace?

8 May 2024 In a statement to the House of Commons, Home

Secretary James Cleverley announces an “undeclared”
Russian military intelligence officer will be expelled
from the UK. The Home Secretary also announces the
closure of several Russian diplomatic premises and new
restrictions on diplomatic visas.

The Russian Embassy in London says the restrictions

have been imposed under a “groundless and ridiculous
pretext”.

16 May 2024 President Putin arrives in Beijing for a two-day state

visit to China. Following talks with Xi Jinping, the two
leaders pledge a “new era” of partnership.

Putin and Xi agree to deepen their “strategic

partnership” and issue a joint statement on “the
deepening of the comprehensive partnership and
strategic cooperation entering a new era.”

6 June 2024 President Zelenskyy joins other world leaders at the

commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the
D-Day landings in Normandy, France.

During his speech, US President Joe Biden says the US

will “not walk away” from the Ukraine conflict, and that
“if we do Ukraine will be subjugated, and it will not end
there. Ukraine’s neighbours will be threatened, all of
Europe will be threatened.”

93 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

11-12 June 2024 President Zelenskyy visits Germany to take part in the
two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference and meets with
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Addressing the conference, Ursula von der Leyen,

president of the European Commission, says accession
talks with Ukraine to join the EU will start by the end of
the month, with Ukraine having fulfilled all the
requirements to join the bloc.

Zelenskyy later addresses the German Bundestag in

person for the first time (he spoke to the parliament in
March 2022, but was connected via video link only.)

13 June 2024 The US signs a bilateral security agreement with

Ukraine.

15-16 June 2024 Around 100 countries participate in a two-day Ukraine

Peace Summit in Bürgenstock, Switzerland. Russia is
not invited to the conference and China doesn’t send a
representative.

83 countries and organisations support the joint

communiqué issued at the end of the summit.

India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa,

Thailand and the United Arab Emirates take part in the
summit, but do not sign the final communiqué. Brazil
attends with “observer status” and also does not
endorse the communiqué.

18 June 2024 President Putin is greeted by North Korea’s leader, Kim

Jong-Un, upon landing in Pyongyang on his first visit to
the country since 2000.

19 June 2024 On the second day of Putin’s state visit to North Korea,
he signs a deal Kim Jong-Un that includes a mutual
defence pledge, which Kim says amounts to an
“alliance”

25 June 2024 The European Union formally launches accession talks

with Ukraine and Moldova, at an Accession Conference
in Luxembourg.

The International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants

for Sergei Shoigu, the former Russian defence minister,
and Russian general Valery Gerasimov, for alleged
crimes committed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
This brings to six the number of arrest warrants issued

94 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

against senior Russians since Moscow sent troops into

Ukraine in February 2022.

27 June 2024 The European Union signs a security agreement with

Ukraine.

4 July 2024 The Labour Party wins the UK General Election, with Sir
Keir Starmer becoming the new Prime Minister. Sir Keir
appoints David Lammy as foreign secretary and John
Healey as defence secretary.

5 July 2024 On his first day in office, Sir Keir Starmer speaks to
President Zelenskyy on the telephone and reiterates the
UK’s unwavering commitment to Ukraine.

7 July 2024 John Healey, the UK’s new defence secretary, meets
President Zelenskyy and Ukrainian defence minister
Rustem Umerov in Odesa. Healey pledges to step up the
UK’s assistance to Ukraine and announces a new
package of support.

8 July 2024 During a visit to Warsaw, President Zelenskyy signs a

bilateral security agreement between Poland and
Ukraine, aimed at strengthening ties with one of Kyiv’s
closest allies. Poland’s Prime Minister, Donald Tusk,
says: “We treat every word in this agreement as mutual
commitments — not empty promises.”

8-9 July 2024 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertakes an

official visit to Russia, to reinforce the deepening
partnership between the two countries. At the end of
the visit, the two sides set out nine key areas for closer
cooperation and aim to boost bilateral trade by more
than half, to hit $100 billion by 2030.

9-11 July 2024 The NATO Summit takes place in Washington DC.

The centrepiece of the summit is new commitments of

military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, with US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying the summit will
“further strengthen” the war-torn country's path to
NATO membership.

10 July 2024 Sir Keir Starmer meets President Zelenskyy at the NATO
Summit in Washington DC.

Addressing the summit, Sir Keir says “the alternative to

Ukraine’s victory is unthinkable” and vows to deliver £3

95 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

billion worth of support to Ukraine each year, for as

long as needed.

11 July 2024 Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, formerly head of Ukraine’s armed

forces, assumes his duties as Kyiv’s ambassador to the
UK.

The NATO Summit closes, with its final communique,

the Washington Summit Declaration, making several
pledges of support to Ukraine.

13 July 2024 Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says

tensions on his country’s border with Ukraine have
subsided and extra troops that had been deployed
there were to return to their bases.

15 July 2024 Addressing a press conference in Kyiv, President

Zelenskyy says he is aiming to have a peace plan ready
by November, and for Kyiv to host a second
international summit to discuss his vision of peace.
Zelenskyy also says representatives of Russia should
attend the summit.

19 July 2024 UK prime minister Keir Starmer welcomes President

Zelenskyy to Downing Street, the first foreign leader to
visit No10 since he became prime minister. The leaders
discuss the situation in the Black Sea and agree to
continue exploring opportunities to strengthen
Ukraine’s maritime capabilities.

27 July 2024 Josep Borrell, the EU’s most senior diplomat, says
Russia’s war against Ukraine is an “existential threat”,
during a meeting with China’s Foreign Minister, Wang
Yi, on the sideline of the ASEAN Regional Forum. Borrell
also urges China to support the peace process.

6 August 2024 Ukraine launches an offensive into Russian territory,

with an aide to President Zelenskyy suggesting the aim
of the incursion was to bring Russia to the negotiating
table for peace talks.

21 August 2024 Ukraine’s parliament ratifies the Rome Statute of the

International Criminal Court (ICC), paving the way to
full membership of the organisation.

The Kyiv Independent reports the ratification includes a

caveat that “Ukraine would not recognise the court’s

96 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

jurisdiction over Ukrainian citizens in the case of war

crimes for seven years following its official adoption.”

23 August 2024 India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, visits Kyiv and
holds talks with President Zelenskyy. Modi says he
brings a message of peace and the two leaders agree
four documents covering the “medical field,
agricultural cooperation, humanitarian relations and
culture”.

28 August 2024 UK prime minister Keir Starmer meets German

chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, where they agree a new
treaty between the two countries.

At a joint press conference, Starmer says a new defence

agreement is at the heart of the treaty and that this will
expand the “formidable defence cooperation” between
UK and Germany “to face the threats of a volatile world
together”.

Also at the press conference, Scholz reaffirms the UK

and Germany’s continued support for Ukraine: “We will
continue to provide financial, economic, political and
military support – for as long as necessary,”

2 September 2024 President Putin arrives in Mongolia for a state visit, his
first visit to an International Criminal Court (ICC)
member since it issued a warrant for his arrest in March
2023. Mongolia ignores the arrest warrant.

3 September 2024 Putin holds talks with Mongolian president Ukhnaa

Khurelsukh. The two leaders sign agreements relating
to a power plant upgrade in Ulaanbaatar and plans to
develop the rail system between the two countries.
Putin also invites Khurelsukh to attend a BRICS summit
in late October.

11 September 2024 US secretary of state Antony Blinken and UK foreign

secretary David Lammy undertake a joint visit to
Ukraine, for talks with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
Blinken hints that the White House may lift its
restrictions on Ukraine using long-range weapons
supplied by the west on key military targets inside
Russia. Lammy announces over £600 million in
additional support to Ukraine.

12 September 2024 China’s foreign minister announces President Xi Jinping

will attend the BRICS summit in Russia in October.

97 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

13 September 2024 Russia announces it has revoked the accreditation of six

British diplomats in Moscow on accusations of
espionage. Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson,
Maria Zakharova, says “Moscow will not tolerate the
activity on Russian territory of undeclared officers of
British secret services.”
Keir Starmer meets President Biden for talks in
Washington DC, where they “reaffirm their unwavering
support for Ukraine”. Both leaders agree on the
“importance of sustaining support to Ukraine in all
aspects, including military, economic and diplomatic,
for as long as it takes for Russia to withdraw.”

20 September 2024 European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen

meets President Zelenskyy in Kyiv and pledges
assistance to repair damages to Ukraine’s electricity
grid.

23 September 2024 In an interview with the New York Times, Petr Pavel,
president of the Czech Republic, says Ukraine “will have
to be realistic” about its prospects of recovering
territory occupied by Russia and that “the most
probable outcome of the war will be that a part of
Ukrainian territory will be under Russian occupation,
temporarily.”

25 September 2024 Addressing the UN Security Council, of which Russia is a

permanent member, President Zelenskyy calls on a
broad alliance of nations to force Russia into peace.

Later, Zelenskyy address the UN General Assembly and

highlights the failure of the Security Council in its
handling of the conflict, noting: “When the aggressor
exercises veto power, the UN is powerless to stop the
war. (PDF)”

In his address to the General Assembly, UK Prime

Minister Sir Keir Starmer says member states must
ensure accountability for those violating the UN
Charter: “The greatest violation of the Charter in a
generation has been committed by one of this Council’s
permanent members. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is
illegal. It threatens global security. And it has caused
colossal human suffering.”

26 September 2024 President Zelensky meets US President Joe Biden at the

White House. Ahead of the meeting, Biden announces a

98 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

“surge” in assistance to Ukraine, including nearly $8bn

in military aid and new long-range munitions.

19 November 2024 In an address to the European Parliament marking the

1,000th day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President
Zelenskyy says the conflict has been shown that “our
shared European values” are “not just words, not
something abstract.”

The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland,

Spain and the United Kingdom issue a joint declaration
of support for Ukraine, after several of the ministers
meet in Warsaw.

Speaking in the House of Commons, UK Foreign

Secretary David Lammy reaffirms the government’s
support for Ukraine on the 1,000th day of the war.

21 November 2024 Addressing the House of Commons, Keir Starmer

pledges to back Ukraine for as long as it’s needed,
saying the UK’s support is proportionate and in
accordance with international law:

We have consistently said that we will do what it

takes to support Ukraine and put it in the best
possible position going into the winter. The UK’s
support for Ukraine is always for self-defence, and it
is proportionate, co-ordinated and agile. It is a
response to Russia’s own actions, and it is in
accordance with international law. Under article 51 of
the UN charter, Ukraine has a clear right of self-
defence against Russia’s illegal attacks. I say again
that Russia could roll back its forces and end this war
tomorrow. Until then, we will stand up for what we
know is right, for Ukraine’s security and for our own
security, and we will back Ukraine with what is
needed for as long as it is needed.

2 December 2024 The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, visits Ukraine for
the first time in more than two-and-a-half years and
announces a military aid package totalling €650m
(£540m).

5 December 2024 The US presidential election takes place. Donald Trump

secures a second, non-consecutive, term in office.

19 December 2024 In his annual question and answer session with

Russians on state television, President Putin says he is
ready for talks at “any time” with US president-elect
Donald Trump.

99 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

 Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

9 2025

Key events
16 January 2025: On his first official visit to Ukraine, UK
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer holds talks with President
Zelenskyy and they sign a 100 Year Partnership agreement.
20 January 2025: Donald Trump is sworn in as US
president.
17 February 2025: Keir Starmer says the UK is ready to play
a leading role in Ukraine’s defence and security and is
prepared to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine.
18 February 2025: Delegations from the US and Russia meet
in Saudi Arabia and agree to explore mutual opportunities to
end the Ukraine war.
24 February 2025: Third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine.
28 February 2025: President Zelenskyy visits President
Trump at the White House and the two leaders clash during
a televised meeting in the Oval Office. A scheduled press
conference is then cancelled.
2 March 2025: Following a meeting of 18 world leaders in
London, Keir Starmer announces a “coalition of the willing”
peacekeeping force to guarantee Ukraine’s security once a
peace deal is agreed.

16 January 2025 On his first official visit to Ukraine, Keir Starmer holds
talks with President Zelenskyy and they sign a 100 Year
Partnership agreement that includes commitments to
strengthen defence and scientific collaboration, to
promote closer community links and to bolster military
collaboration on maritime security (PDF).

20 January 2025 Donald Trump is sworn in as president of the United

States.

100 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

12 February 2025 Presidents Trump and Putin hold a “lengthy and highly
productive” phone call in which they agreed to begin
negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. Trump later
calls President Zelenskyy.

The UK convenes the 26th Ukraine Defence Contact

Group in Brussels. Opening the meeting of over 50 allies
and partners, UK Defence Secretary John Healey
announces a new £150m military support package to
support Ukrainian troops fighting Russia on the
frontline.

US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, says the US does

not believe NATO membership for Ukraine would be a
“realistic” outcome of any negotiated peace settlement
with Russia and calls on NATO allies to take the lead in
providing for Ukraine and Europe’s security.

13 February 2025 NATO defence ministers meet in Brussels, with their

talks focusing on increasing defence budgets and
continuing support for Ukraine.

Speaking at the end of the meeting, Pete Hegseth says

“everything is on the table” to bring peace to Ukraine
and suggests reducing the number of American troops
in Europe could be part of any deal.

14 February 2025 Speaking before meeting a US delegation, ahead of the

opening of the Munich Security Conference, Zelenskyy
says: “I have told President Trump that I am ready to
talk at any time – without conditions. We are prepared
to discuss everything, from troop deployments to
NATO.” Zelenskyy adds his only red line is recognising
occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian.

15 February 2025 In a speech to the Munich Security Conference,

President Zelenskyy says: “We will never accept deals
reached behind our backs, without our involvement.”
He also calls on Europe to create its own armed forces,
urging the continent’s leaders to decide their own
future and security.

17 February 2025 Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Sir Keir Starmer says
“the UK is ready to play a leading role” in Ukraine’s
defence and security and that he is prepared to put
British troops on the ground in Ukraine if there is a deal
to end the war with Russia.

101 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

Delegations from the US and Russia arrive in Riyadh,

Saudi Arabia, ahead of talks.

European leaders meet in Paris for emergency talks.

They call for an increase to defence spending, but are
split on the idea of deploying troops to Ukraine in
support of any peace deal.

Following the meeting, Starmer calls for the US to

provide a “backstop” to deter Russia from attacking
Ukraine again.

18 February 2025 Following a lengthy meeting in the Saudi capital, the US

and Russia agree to explore mutual opportunities to
end the Ukraine war.

President Zelenskyy says Ukraine will not accept the

results of talks on how to end the war with Russia that
are held “behind Ukraine’s back”. He tells reporters: “It
feels like the US is now discussing the ultimatum that
Putin set at the start of the full-scale war. Once again,
decisions about Ukraine are being made without
Ukraine. I wonder why they believe Ukraine would
accept all these ultimatums now if we refused them at
the most difficult moment?”

19 February 2025 Zelenskyy says Trump is “trapped” in a “disinformation

bubble”, in response to the US president’s suggestion
that Ukraine started the war with Russia.

Responding to Zelenskyy’s comments via his social

media platform, Truth Social, Trump calls the Ukrainian
president a “dictator without elections” and accuses
him of wanting to keep the “gravy train” going.

20 February 2025 It is reported that the US is refusing to recognise Russia

as the aggressor in the Ukraine conflict, in a planned G7
statement to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s
invasion.

The US is also reported to be refusing to co-sponsor a

draft UN resolution that backs Ukraine’s territorial
integrity and demands Russia withdraw its troops.

23 February 2025 Speaking to reporters during a press conference in Kyiv,

Zelenskyy says he prepared to resign from his post in
exchange for peace or NATO membership for Ukraine.
Asked if he would be willing to give up the presidency,
he replies: “Yes, I am happy, if it is for the peace of

102 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

Ukraine. If you need me to leave this chair, I am ready

to do that; and I also can exchange it for NATO
membership for Ukraine.”

24 February 2025 A dozen foreign leaders visit Kyiv to mark the third
anniversary of Russia’s invasion. They include then
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, several
European prime ministers, European Commission
President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council
President Antonio Costa.

Posting on X (formerly Twitter), von Der Leyen says

Europe is in Kyiv “because Ukraine is Europe”. She
adds: “In this fight for survival, it is not only the destiny
of Ukraine that is at stake. It’s Europe’s destiny.”

Later, while addressing a meeting of Ukraine’s allies to

mark the three-year anniversary, Keir Starmer repeats
calls for Ukraine to have a seat at the table for any
peace talks and for a US ‘backstop’ to any peace
agreement. Starmer also promises sweeping sanctions
to put further pressure on Russia and to get President
Putin “not just to talk, but to make concessions”.

At the UN General Assembly, European states add

amendments to a resolution drafted by the US to mark
the third anniversary of Russia’s war in Ukraine. This
amended resolution receives 93 votes in favour and
eight against. 72 member states abstain, including the
US.

The General Assembly also adopts the resolution

drafted by Ukraine and European countries, with 93
votes in favour, 18 against and 65 abstentions. The
United States votes against the resolution (alongside
Russia, Belarus and North Korea, among others),
splitting with Europe for the first time since the conflict
began.

France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, meets President

Trump in the White House for discussions on Ukraine,
European security and trade. During a news conference
between the two leaders, Macron states that ending the
war in Ukraine should not come at the cost of a weak
agreement or Ukraine’s “surrender”. He says: “This
peace must allow for Ukrainian sovereignty and allow
Ukraine to negotiate with other stakeholders.”

The UN Security Council votes to adopt a US-drafted

resolution to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s war

103 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

in Ukraine, without it mentioning Russia’s aggression.

The resolution receives 10 votes in favour and none
against. Five member states abstain, including the UK
and France.

25 February 2025 In a statement to the House of Commons, Prime

Minister Keir Starmer announces “the biggest sustained
increase in defence spending since the end of the cold
war”, saying the government will be spending 2.5% of
GDP on defence by 2027. Starmer says Russia is a threat
and that “tyrants like Putin only respond to strength.
Russia is a menace in our waters, in our airspace and
on our streets.”

27 February 2025 Keir Starmer visits President Trump at the White House.
At a joint press conference, Trump says that he feels a
peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine will be
announced “fairly soon or won’t be at all”.

28 February 2025 President Zelenskyy visits President Trump at the White

House.
The two leaders clash during a televised meeting in the
Oval Office, with Trump telling Zelenskyy he needs to be
more thankful and that Zelenskyy is “gambling with
World War Three”.
After the meeting ends, Trump posts on his Truth Social
platform that he has “determined that President
Zelenskyy is not ready for peace.”
A scheduled press conference is later cancelled.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria
Zakharova, says Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington was a
“complete diplomatic failure of Kyiv”, and that the
Ukrainian president is “obsessed” with prolonging the
war.

1 March 2025 President Zelenskyy arrives in the UK and holds talks

with the Prime Minister in Downing Street.

2 March 2025 Keir Starmer hosts 18 world leaders at a summit at

Lancaster House in London to discuss a new plan for
peace in Ukraine. Those in attendance include: French
president Emmanuel Macron; German chancellor Olaf
Scholz; former Canadian prime minster Justin Trudeau;
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez; Italian prime

104 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

minister Giorgia Meloni; and Ursula von der Leyen, the

president of the European Commission.
Following the summit, Starmer announces a four-point
plan to work with Zelenskyy to end the war and defend
Ukraine from Russia. Starmer says “we are at a
crossroads in history today” and announces that the
UK, France and other countries will step up their efforts
in a “coalition of the willing”.

5 March 2025 The US suspends intelligence sharing with Kyiv.

In an evening address to the nation, French President

Macron announces he will discuss extending France’s
nuclear deterrent to European partners and also the
possibility of sending European troops to Ukraine to
enforce a peace deal.

11 March 2025 The US and Ukraine release a statement backing an

American-proposed 30-day ceasefire in the war with
Russia, following further talks in Saudi Arabia.

The joint statement also says the US has reinstated

intelligence sharing with Kyiv.

12 March 2025 The defence ministers of the E5 group (France,

Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom) meet
in Paris to consolidate their support for Ukraine and to
examine European defence projects.

13 March 2025 President Putin says he agrees with the idea of a

ceasefire in Ukraine, but that “questions” remain about
the nature of a truce.

15 March 2025 Speaking after a press conference in Downing Street,

following a virtual meeting of the “coalition of the
willing”, Keir Starmer calls for the “guns to fall silent in
Ukraine”.

18 March 2025 Presidents Trump and Putin hold direct talks on the
telephone, “about the need for peace and a ceasefire in
the Ukraine war”.

Putin agrees to stop attacking Ukrainian energy

facilities temporarily and the two leaders commit to
negotiations on a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea.

105 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

19 March 2025 Presidents Trump and Zelenskyy hold a “very good

telephone call” in what is their first conversation since
clashing at the White House three weeks earlier.

20 March 2025 President Zelenskyy addresses the European Council

meeting in Brussels via videolink. He urges leaders to
not fall for the Russian “hoax”, adding, “Putin must stop
making unnecessary demands that only prolong the
war and must start fulfilling what he promises the
world.”

24 March 2025 US and Russian negotiators hold a 12-hour round of

talks in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, aimed at
securing a partial ceasefire in Ukraine.

A ceasefire agreement relating to the Black Sea is

reached, although the Kremlin says it will only come
into force if the West meets certain conditions including
the lifting of particular sanctions and reconnecting
various Russian banks to the SWIFT system.

The US negotiators also hold separate talks with the

delegation from Ukraine.

28 March 2025 Speaking in the northwestern Russian city of Murmansk,

Putin proposes the establishment of an interim
government in Ukraine under UN supervision, “in order
to hold a democratic election there, in order to bring in
a competent government trusted by people”.

Putin cites the UN’s involvement in countries such as

East Timor, New Guinea and parts of the former
Yugoslavia as examples in which the UN took over the
administration of, and transition to, independence.

30 March 2025 In an interview with NBC News, President Trump says he

was “very angry” when President Putin criticised the
credibility of President Zelenskyy’s leadership, adding
that the comments were “not going in the right
location.”

1 April 2025 Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, says

Moscow cannot accept the US peace proposals as they
currently stand.

8 April 2025 President Zelenskyy announces that Ukrainian forces

have captured two Chinese nationals fighting with the
Russian army in the eastern Donetsk region.

106 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (current conflict, 2022-present)

10 April 2025 Defence ministers from 30 nations meet at NATO

headquarters in Brussels to discuss a “coalition of the
willing” peacekeeping force to guarantee Ukraine’s
security once a peace deal is agreed.

11 April 2025 US envoy Steve Witkoff meets Vladimir Putin in St

Petersburg, with the Kremlin saying the meeting lasted
more than four hours and focused on “aspects of a
Ukrainian settlement”.

In an interview on 60 Minutes, President Zelenskyy

invites President Trump to visit Ukraine before agreeing
any deal with Russia.

14 April 2025 A day after a major Russian attack kills 35 people and
injures 117 others in the Ukrainian city of Sumy, Trump
again blames Zelenskyy for starting the war, saying:
“You don't start a war against someone 20 times your
size and then hope that people give you some missiles.”

15 April 2025 NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte visits Odesa with

President Zelenskyy and declares “unwavering” support
for Ukraine.

107 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 April 2025

The House of Commons Library is a research and
information service based in the UK Parliament.
Our impartial analysis, statistical research and
resources help MPs and their staff scrutinise
legislation, develop policy, and support constituents.

Our published material is available to everyone

on commonslibrary.parliament.uk.

Get our latest research delivered straight to your inbox.

Subscribe at commonslibrary.parliament.uk/subscribe
or scan the code below:

commonslibrary.parliament.uk

@commonslibrary