Diplomatic relations between Ukraineand the UAE were established October 15, 1992.
In April, 1993 the first Ukrainian governmental delegation headed by Prime-Minister Leonid Kuchma visited the UAE. Fruitful negotiations regarding the establishment of bilateral cooperation took place. In January, 1994 the Embassy of Ukraine in the UAE commenced its activities.
During 1994-2001 the level of bilateral relations has been maintained mainly by the exchange of numerous delegations of governmental and ministerial levels.
In January, 2002 an official visit to the UAE of Ukrainian Foreign Minister H.E. Anatoliy Zlenko took place. During this visit arrangements have been reached regarding the further development of bilateral cooperation.
In the end of 2003 Ukrainian President H.E. Leonid Kuchma paid an official visit to the UAE. The Parties agreed on the necessity of bilateral economic relations stirring up, mainly by the realization of joint investment projects. The issues of cultural, humanitarian and inter-regional cooperation have also been discussed. The visit to Ukraine of the UAE Health Minister Hamed A. Al-Madfa at the beginning of March, 2004 became the follow-up step of the mentioned arrangements.
On November 16-17, 2009 an official visit of President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko to the United Arab Emirates took place. The purpose of the visit was to renew the bilateral political dialogue at the highest level and to give a new push in support of bilateral relations.
On December 20-21, 2009 Foreign Minister of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko visited the UAE with the official. The visit became an important step towards consolidating the agreements achieved during the visit President of Ukraine to the UAE.
Bilateral elations between the countries in 2010 were marked by a significant event. It was the official visit to Ukraine HH Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Chief of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court and Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). On November 25-26, 2010 he met President and Prime Minister of Ukraine. During negotiations they discussed possibilities of cooperation between two countries, especially in the investment area.
On May 18-19, 2011 UAE Foreign Minister HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan paid the first in the history of bilateral relations official visit to Ukraine. As a result Ukrainian-Emirati intergovernmental commission on trade, economic and technical cooperation started its work that allows to bring cooperation between Ukraine and the UAE to a new level.
On October 7-8, 2012 Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine paid an official visit to the United Arab Emirates. During the visit he held meetings with his counterpart HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE, HH Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan the chairman of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court and the Managing director of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and H.E. Mohamed Helal Al Muhairi Director General of Abu Dhabi Chamber. The Minister headed Ukrainian delegation for participation in the Second Session of the Ukrainian-Emirati Intergovernmental committee on trade and economic cooperation.
On November 25-27, 2012 President of Ukraine paid an official visit to the UAE. The President held negotiations with President of the UAE HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Vice President, Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and HH Lieutenant General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
On September 23. 2013 inNew York, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
On the 24th of September, 2014 Minister for foreign affairs of Ukraine P.Klimkin held a meeting with the Minister for foreign affairs of the United Arab Emirates in New York within their participation in the 69th UNGA session. The two sides discussed actual topics on the bilateral and international agenda. The Ministers have exchanged views on the current status and future perspectives of the bilateral relations development between Ukraine and the UAE, focusing on some of the major spheres of bilateral interest.
February 23-24, 2015 President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko visited the UAE. The President visited the international military-technical exhibition IDEX-2015 and held meetings with the Vice-President, Prime-Minister of the UAE M.R.Al Maktoum and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi M.Z.Al Nahyan.
On November 1-2, 2017 President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko paid a working visit to the United Arab Emirates. President of Ukraine has held important bilateral meetings with the Vice-President, Prime Minister, Minister of Defense of the United Arab Emirates, and ruler of the Emirate of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and with the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the DP World Group Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem. The Ukrainian delegation led by the President of Ukraine visited Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone and Jebel Ali Port, which is one of the ten most loaded ports in the world.
On August 16 – 17, 2018, the Third Session of the Intergovernmental Ukrainian-UAE Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation took place in Kyiv (the Commission). The Ukrainian part of the commission was headed by the Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine Ihor Nasalyk, the UAE part was headed by the State Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE Dr. Anwar Gargash. Following the Session, the Protocol of the Third Session of the Сommission, the Memorandum of Understanding in the Fields of Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy and Alternative Types of Fuels between the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine and the Ministry of Energy of the United Arab Emirates, as well as the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation between Henadii Udovenko Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Emirates Diplomatic Academy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the UAE were signed.
Ukraine is an active participant of the numerous international exhibitions in the UAE. It helps to represent the possibilities of Ukrainian economy as well as its readiness to develop cooperation with the UAE and other Gulf states.
Two states cooperate closely in international organizations supporting each other in the elections to international bodies and institutions.
On April 13, 2020, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a phone conversation with HH Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. They discussed the prospects of trade, economic and investment cooperation, in particular in the field of agriculture, development of road and medical infrastructure in Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the UAE for its humanitarian assistance - high quality means of protection for health workers, as well as for the assistance in the return of thousands of Ukrainian citizens from the UAE and other countries.
On April 16, 2020, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba had a phone conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. On December 7, 2020, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba paid a working visit to the United Arab Emirates. He held negotiations with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the UAE His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the State Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE Dr. Anwar Gargash, the Director General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Francesco La Camera and the leadership of Mubadala Investment Company.
On December 7, 2020, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba paid an working visit to the United Arab Emirates. He held negotiations with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the State Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE Dr. Anwar Gargash, IRENA Director General Francesco La Camera and the leadership of Mubadala Investment Company.
On February 13-15, 2021, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy paid an official visit to the United Arab Emirates. The President held negotiations with His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai and with His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. During the meetings they discussed a wide range of issues of bilateral political, trade, economic, investment and humanitarian cooperation.
The President of Ukraine also had separate meetings with the management of Dubai Health Department and DP World. Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the town of advanced environmentally friendly technologies Masdar City, the company for the development of artificial intelligence and cloud computing “Group 42”, the University of Artificial Intelligence named after Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the World Exhibition "Expo 2020", where he got acquainted with the pavilion of Ukraine and the pavilion of sustainable development "Sustainability".
As a result of the visit a number of bilateral documents were signed, including Agreement on Cooperation in combating crime and terrorism, Memorandum on mutual recognition and exchange of national driver licenses, Memorandum on food security, Memorandum on cooperation in tourism development, separate agreements and memos in military-technical and investment cooperation.
On July 14, 2021 Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba had a phone conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The heads of Ukrainian and Emirati diplomacy noted the positive dynamics of bilateral trade and investment cooperation as well as implementation of agreements reached during the official visit of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the UAE on February 13-15, 2021. They paid special attention to the possibilities of expanding the portfolio of Emirati investment fund projects in Ukraine. A separate topic of conversation was the preparation for the World Exhibition "Expo 2020".