Ukraine-New Zealand Relations: Promise of a Date?

Abstract

Newly independent Ukraine has a growing international presence and an increasing ambition to be a member of affluent international associations and alliances. Since regaining its sovereignty in 1991, Ukraine has been outspoken in its desire to eventually join the European Union (EU). This aspiration is more meaningful with the country’s current active involvement in the Council of Europe (CE).1 Ukraine’s image as an international actor is also shaped by its much debated intention of entering NATO, as well as its participation in the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (‘Nuclear Terrorism Convention’).2 Above all, Ukraine’s firm will to become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) engages the country with a system of economic, political, and legal co-ordinates understood and followed around the world