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Minsk agreements have largely shaped the Ukrainian foreign policy, but failed to bring peace to the Donbas land. Kyiv and Brussels have been swirling in the tango of integration. Ukraine has obtained an opportunity to make greater use of instruments of the United Nations.

As in 2014, the annexation of Crimea and the Russian-ignited conflict in the east of Ukraine remained important issues on the international agenda in 2015. UNIAN recalled the main successes and failures of Ukraine’s foreign policy.

Petro Poroshenko paid a visit to Israel, where he tried to make the most of the Knesset’s podium for political statements. Minsk process is by default extended throughout 2016. Russia responded to the extension of European sanctions and a new batch of the U.S. economic restrictions by suspending the free trade area with Ukraine.

A rough spat between Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and Odesa Governor, ex-President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, took place in front of the country’s top officials and to the great delight of the Russian TV channels. The government was forced to admit that its tax innovations are unacceptable for the lawmakers. The activities of the Communist Party were completely prohibited in Ukraine.

Ukraine has fulfilled ten of the 16 EU recommendations regarding the fight against corruption, 128 journalists were killed in 2015 in 31 countries, the U.S. may provide $658.185 million in financial assistance to Ukraine in 2016.

On December 18, the European Commission passed the sixth report on Ukraine's implementation of the requirements of a Visa Liberalization Action Plan (VLAP). UNIAN gathered expert opinions on what this decision means and what Ukraine needs to do for its citizens to travel across the Schengen states without visas.

The European Commission has announced its readiness to grant Ukraine a visa-free regime. Vladimir Putin has admitted presence of the Russian military in Donbas, which he had been denying for over a year. Andrzej Duda has brought to Kyiv a load of pleasant surprises.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s eleventh annual large scale press conference was perhaps the most boring of all the previous ones. Meanwhile, Crimea and Donbas, who until recently have vehemently shouted out “Putin, come!” were left out of Putin’s Thursday agenda.

In the coming days Europe will decide the fate of anti-Russian sanctions. UNIAN gathered expert opinions on what the Europeans may actually decide given Russia’s non-fulfillment of obligations under the Minsk agreement, and what will happen with sanctions against Russia in the long term.

Ukraine’s new Permanent Representative to the United Nations Volodymyr Yelchenko has told in an exclusive interview with UNIAN of what he planned to talk with his Russian counterpart Vitaly Churkin; he also spoke about whether it is possible to deprive Russia of its veto in the UN Security Council, and how the format of the Minsk talks may change.

U.S. Vice President encouraged the Ukrainian authorities to build a successful country. MP Oleh Barna decided not limit himself with collecting signatures for the dismissal of PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk, deciding to drag him out of the parliament’s podium during speech. The winners of the local elections held party conferences.

Fugitive ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych ranks third in the list of the top corrupt officials, 13% of Ukrainians were engaged in volunteer activities during 2015, $116.762 billion was siphoned out of Ukraine over a ten-year period.

UNIAN sat down with one of Russia’s opposition leaders, former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, to learn how the opposition sees the prospects for resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The U.S. Vice President has given several master classes to the Ukrainian politicians. Viktor Yanukovych has forgotten how to say anything beyond the Kremlin’s instructions. The officials in Kyiv look forward to Ukraine getting a visa-free regime with the EU.

U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden was the second high-ranking American official to ever speak from the rostrum of the Ukrainian parliament. But, unlike the speech of U.S. President George W. Bush (in 1991), there was more understanding of the Ukrainian reality in his address.

The visit of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to Ukraine has cut open some issues that had been discussed on the sidelines of the Ukrainian politics for several weeks. First of all, it’s about the possible dismissal of the Cabinet and the effectiveness of reforms undertaken by today’s government.

The government does not expect any mercy from the deputies but relies on political expediency. Odesa Governor Mikheil Saakashvili was selective in his fight against corruption. Joe Biden, unlike Dmytro Firtash, has come to Kyiv.

Poroshenko paid an eventful visit to Lithuania. Climate Summit in Paris confirmed the intransigence of Putin and Erdogan. The Russian president acted as an electric god for Crimea, not too convincingly though. NATO has invited Montenegro into its ranks and expressed solidarity with Ukraine.

On November 25, U.S. President Barack Obama signed the Congress-approved U.S. defense budget for 2016 authorizing allocation of funds to provide military assistance to Ukraine.

Verkhovna Rada marked the first anniversary of its eighth convocation. Termination of energy supply to the annexed Crimea will force the Ukrainian authorities to clearly articulate the strategy of building relationships with the residents of the peninsula. Law enforcement agencies announced quite unexpected reshuffles among top officials.