Scholars disagree on the relative importance of natural factors and bad economic policies as causes of the famine, and the degree to which the destruction of the Ukrainian peasantry was premeditated by Soviet leaders.

In the absence of documentary proof of intent, scholars have also argued that the Holodomor was caused by the economic problems associated with the radical changes implemented during the period of liquidation of private property and Soviet industrialization, combined with the widespread drought of the early 1930s.

[20]: 33 As stated on the website of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2002, the Russian Federation recognized Ukraine's independence on 5 December 1991 and formally established diplomatic relations on 14 February 1992.

[20]: 40 Concurrent with the debates surrounding the Black Sea Fleet was a political movement within the then-styled Republic of Crimea for greater independence within Ukraine, or closer ties with Russia.

Russia remained Ukraine's primary market for ferrous metals, steel plate and pipes, electric machinery, machine tools and equipment, food, and products of the chemical industry.

[35] With old buyers gone by 1997, Ukraine experienced a 97–99% drop in production of industrial machines with digital control systems, television sets, tape recorders, excavators, cars and trucks.

At the same time and in spite of the post-communist slowdown, Russia came out as the fourth-largest investor in the Ukrainian economy after the US, the Netherlands, and Germany, having contributed $150.6 million out of $2.047 billion in foreign direct investment that Ukraine had received from all sources by 1998.

However, with president Viktor Yushchenko in power, several problems resurfaced, including the Russia–Ukraine gas disputes due to Ukraine's growing cooperation with the EU and bid to join NATO.

[93]: 6 On 22 April 2010 Presidents Viktor Yanukovych and Dmitry Medvedev signed an agreement leasing the Russian Naval Forces base in Sevastopol to Russia for 25 years in return for discounted natural gas deliveries which accounted for $100 per 1,000 cubic meters.

According to some news agencies the main purpose of the visit was to resolve disagreements in the Russian–Ukrainian energy relations after Viktor Yanukovych agreed on the partial merger of Gazprom and Naftogaz.

[115][116] Unlike the Azov incident a month earlier on 17 July 2013, the State Border Service of Ukraine handed over the citizens of Russia right back to the Russian authorities.

In 2013, Ukraine both pursued an observer status in the Russian-led Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia,[117] and persisted with moving along with association agreement with the EU, scheduled to be signed that November.

In response to the crisis, the Ukrainian parliament requested that the Budapest Memorandum's signatories reaffirm their commitment to the principles enshrined in the political agreement, and further asked that they hold consultations with Ukraine to ease tensions.

[144] On 15 April, the Verkhovna Rada declared the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol to be under "provisional occupation" by the Russian military[145][146] The territories were also deemed "inalienable parts of Ukraine" subject to Ukrainian law.

[160] In March 2018, the Ukrainian border guards detained in the Sea of Azov the Russian-flagged, Crimean-registered fishing vessel Nord, accusing the crew of entering "territory, which has been under a temporary occupation".

[204] Various intelligence in the following months, including a statement from Russian news agency TASS, put the number of troops situated in the Southern Military District which borders the Donbas conflict zone at 85,000[205] to 90,000.

[203][208] In late October, Russian news agency TASS reported massive drills occurring in the Astrakhan Oblast involving over 1,000 personnel and 300 pieces of military hardware, which included the Buk, S-300, and Tor-M2 missile systems.

[211][212] Putin wrote: "I consider the wall that emerged in recent years between Russia and Ukraine, between parts of essentially one historic and cultural space, as one big, common problem, as a tragedy.

[215] On 9 December 2021 an incident occurred involving the Ukrainian command ship Donbas, which had set sail from the port of Mariupol at 09:12 Moscow time, heading towards the Kerch Strait (shared internal waters of Russia and Ukraine, by treaty).

[221] Whilst Biden ruled out direct American military intervention in Ukraine, he mentioned that the United States may "be required to reinforce our presence in NATO countries to reassure particularly those in the eastern front".

[221] Ukrainian general Kyrylo Budanov said, while speaking to the New York Times that "There are not sufficient military resources for repelling a full-scale attack by Russia if it begins without the support of" additional forces, and that "without delivery of reserves, there's not an army in the world that can hold out".

[223] British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that Russia was planning the "biggest war in Europe since 1945" as Putin intended to invade and encircle the capital of Kyiv.

[233] On 5 March 2022, according to the Russian RIA news agency, Russia's foreign ministry urged on European Union and NATO members to "stop supplying arms" to Ukraine.

[235][236] On 5 April 2022, Liz Truss, the United Kingdom's foreign secretary, announced that Britain would deploy investigators to Ukraine to assist in the collection of evidence of war crimes, including sexual abuse.

[237] In April 2022, in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Russian political scientist Sergey Karaganov, who is considered close to Putin, stated that "war will be victorious, in one way or another.

[239] Intelligence from the United Kingdom's National Cyber Security Centre stated that the attacks also caused disruption to wind farms and other internet users in Central Europe.

[239] In a statement by the EU Council, the cyberattack also had a "significant impact causing indiscriminate communication outages and disruptions across several public authorities, businesses and users in Ukraine".

[247] On 22 February 2024, Medvedev described the future plans of Russia in the Russo-Ukrainian War when he claimed that the Russian Army will go further into Ukraine, taking the southern city of Odesa and may again push on to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, and stated that "Where should we stop?

[292] In December 2014, 85% of Ukrainians (81% in eastern regions) rated relations with Russia as hostile (56%) or tense (29%), according to a Deutsche Welle survey which did not include Crimea and the separatist-controlled part of Donbas.

The negotiations were brokered by France and Germany, where the countries in conflict committed an extensive prisoner swap along with withdrawal of Ukraine's military from three major regions falling on the front line.