“Another stormy year — 2025 — is drawing to a close. It was very intense and rich in events that radically changed the global political map and the balance of power. However, it is impossible to describe all the cases, because it is too long. Nevertheless, UA.News highlighted the TOP-8 most important events for the world in general and Ukraine in particular, placing them”, — write on: ua.news
Another stormy year — 2025 — is drawing to a close. It was very intense and rich in events that radically changed the global political map and the balance of power. However, it is impossible to describe all the cases, because it is too long.
Nevertheless, the edition UA.News highlighted the TOP-8 most important events for the world in general and Ukraine in particular, placing them in chronological order and according to the general logic of the processes.
So what will we remember in 2025 from a political point of view? More details – in our material.
Inauguration of Donald Trump (January 20, 2025)
This date became the starting point for most of the key shifts in world politics. Second in line Trump’s inauguration confirmed a return to his radical “America First” course. In his inaugural address, the new-old president made it clear that his priorities would be domestic affairs and a foreign policy beneficial to the US, rather than supporting international and allied institutions.
Already in the first hours after the ceremony, signals began to arrive about future drastic changes in foreign policy, especially regarding NATO and support for Ukraine. This event created an atmosphere of uncertainty in which allies and opponents began to prepare for a new, tougher and more pragmatic policy of Washington. And as it turns out, they were absolutely right: Trump changed everything.
The beginning of real peace negotiations in Ukraine (winter 2025-to this day)
Under the combined pressure of circumstances — a radical change in American policy, Trump’s diplomatic activity, gradual exhaustion and lack of resources, etc. — almost immediately after the inauguration of the new US president, a multi-level and difficult negotiation process regarding peace in Ukraine. Its active phase continues until now, but so far it has not brought any desired results.
However, it was from this moment that the diplomatic track acquired an institutional character. The parties stopped exchanging rhetorical statements about the impossibility of dialogue, and under pressure from the US at least began to discuss the complex and specific technical parameters of a possible ceasefire, humanitarian issues, aspects of a potential peace agreement, the status of the occupied territories, the post-war geopolitical future of Ukraine, etc.
The political crisis in Germany, the collapse of the Svitlofor coalition and early elections (February 23, 2025)
Prolonged internal disputes in the German ruling coalition regarding the budget, aid to Ukraine and energy policy have reached a point of no return in the fall of 2024. The Free Democratic Party (FDP), which has long blocked parliamentary decisions, left the warehouse government, depriving Chancellor Olaf Scholz of his majority in the Bundestag.
The crisis in the heart of Europe paralyzed the German leadership in the EU for several critical months, delaying the adoption of key decisions regarding the financing of Ukraine and sanctions against the Russian Federation. Finally, on February 23, 2025, early elections were held, according to the results of which Friedrich Merz became the new German chancellor.
Quarrel in the White House between Zelensky and Trump (February 28, 2025)
The first official meeting of the president of Ukraine with the new American leader after his inauguration, which took place at the latter’s invitation, ended in a real diplomatic disaster. Trump, acting within the framework of his hardline for the earliest possible peace, has put forward complex demands for concessions in the negotiation process with Russia, directly linking it to future military and financial aid. Before that, the American leader harshly criticized Zelensky, calling him, in particular, a “dictator without elections.”
Public talks at the White House almost immediately did not go according to plan . In the end, they led to a loud altercation in raised tones. Trump and his Vice President Vance convinced Zelensky that he “has no cards” and that his country is in danger of destruction, and also stated that he is “ungrateful” and “difficult to do business with”. The Ukrainian leader, in turn, repeatedly interrupted the interlocutors, and also ironically said that he had already heard something similar from Putin.
In the end, the meeting ended prematurely, the signing of the resource agreement and the joint press conference were canceled, and soon after Trump completely froze support for Kyiv.
“Full-scale trade war” of the USA with the whole world (March-April 2025)
In March, the Trump administration officially announced the introduction of new ones large-scale tariffs for a wide range of goods from the EU, China, South Korea, Japan and dozens of other countries. This step was justified by the protection of American interests and jobs. Global markets reacted with a sharp increase in volatility. The trade war quickly escalated into a political one, weakening transatlantic ties at a critical moment and forcing Europe to seek new partners and make difficult domestic decisions to ensure economic stability.
However, later it became clear that tariffs are often used as a political tool for pressure and coercion, because after negotiations with individual leaders who made concessions to Trump, the latter postponed or even canceled tariffs for these specific countries.
Escalation, reconciliation and new conflicts in Asia (April-December 2025)
In April, another explosion of the long-standing conflict between India and Pakistan in Kashmir led to cross-border skirmishes, exchange of airstrikes and ultimately brought the countries to the brink of full-scale war. In a few months, in July, the border skirmishes between Thailand and Cambodia — states that also have a long history of disputes and mutual antagonism.
However, unlike the previous episodes, this time the mechanisms to prevent full-scale conflicts worked as they should. Under the pressure of the international community (in particular, with the active mediation of Donald Trump) and due to the reluctance of the parties to get involved in a major war, the escalation was quickly extinguished. This “warming-cooling” cycle proved once again that Asia remains a rather dangerous region with high risks of global conflicts.
Escalation in the Middle East and the end of the active phase of the war in Gaza (June-October 2025)
The military conflict between Israel and Hamas, the active phase of which has been ongoing since October 2023, reached a new level in June 2025 with a direct involvement of Iran and pro-Iranian Hezbollah in Lebanon. Massive exchanges of missile strikes created the threat of a major regional war. However, after weeks of intense fighting mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt a fragile but truce was reached between Tel Aviv, Tehran and Beirut.
And on October 10, the active phase of ground fighting in Gaza stopped. Donald Trump and his team took a direct part in this and immediately recorded the event in their asset — although there is still no real peace in the region, it looks more like a truce for a while. However, all this allowed the parties to at least “take a breather”, and the world community to exhale and rejoice at least at a temporary de-escalation in the historically explosive Middle East.
Meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska (August 15, 2025)
Vladimir Putin’s first foreign visit to a Western country since the beginning of the war was a triumph for the Russian dictator. In addition, he did not fly anywhere, but to the United States, where he was greeted not as the president of Russia, but as some Arab sheikh, with red carpets and an air parade. This meeting became a symbolic and actual destruction of the entire strategy of political isolation of the leader of the Russian Federation.
Although the parties did not sign any official agreements, the very fact of holding such a meeting against the background of active fighting in Ukraine, sanctions and Putin’s general reputation had enormous symbolic weight. This signaled Russia’s return to world politics and became one of the factors that pushed the parties to more real and substantive, albeit forced, negotiations.
In fact, the above list of events is far from complete. Among other important cases, we can mention mass recognition of Palestinian statehood the global boycott of Israel, a growing trend “right turn” in Europe, the agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the end of the long-term war in Ethiopia, a record rising gold prices and increased protectionism on the part of major powers, the continuation of the political and migration crisis in the EU, and much more.
In summary, 2025 turned out to be a period of tough adaptation to the new international reality, where great powers are increasingly determined to solve security issues in narrow formats, often bypassing the interests of weaker countries and international institutions. For Ukraine, the key conclusion and success of the past year is the survival and preservation of itself as a state, although the general situation (front, political and geopolitical, socio-economic, etc.) for Kyiv is rapidly deteriorating and requires immediate and decisive actions.
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