From Euromaidan to war: A decade of European and American policies towards Ukraine

Since 2013 Ukraine has been at the centre of the main European historical events, and even as of today, with the ongoing war of aggression launched by Russia, it is still the main focus of Western foreign policy. As such, this thesis asks "How did the political, economic, and military policies of the EU and the USA vis-à-vis Ukraine evolve, 2013-2024?". Using interpretive research, it analyses European and American documents and declarations assessing Ukraine's path towards EU and NATO memberships during the Euromaidan Revolution (2013-2014), the War in Donbas (2014-2022), and the full-scale Russian invasion (2022-2024). The findings show that both the EU and US underwent similar policies, but with different goals. Brussels, on the one hand, aimed at completing its eastwards expansion by drawing Ukraine away from the Russian sphere of influence, considering it a moral obligation to include a culturally European nation within the Union. It was, therefore, a matter of actorness. Washington, on the other hand, wanted a sovereign Ukraine to counter Russia's imperialism, so as to maintain its influence over Eastern Europe. For the United States, then, Ukraine was primarily a matter of hegemony.