Ukraine’s Ambivalent Policy on Transnistria in 2023-2025

Since Ukraine gained independence, the Transnistrian conundrum has wrought its interaction with Moldova. Throughout the war, an escalation in Transnistria has been subject to speculations. Yet, Kyiv’s stance on the enclave remains widely unexplored. This study establishes that the Ukrainian top foreign policy players inconsistently legitimise and further their standpoints on Transnistria, repeating the paradoxes of their antecedents. Constructivist interpretation of foreign policy, and Van Leeuwen’s legitimisation theory, are applied to the public communication of President Zelensky and the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to unravel strategic narratives and plausible inconsistencies in their stances. The research period stretches from January 2023 to November 2025; primary material is retrieved from the authorities’ official websites. The research reveals a visible divergence between Kyiv’s stated policy and its actual steps. Kyiv chiefly employs authorisation by past and present, as well as by regulations to advance its commitment to Moldova’s sovereignty. Rationalization, understood as reference to studies and research, is less common. The Zelensky administration is repeating the paradoxes of its predecessors, as Ukraine clearly aims to limit the possibilities of Transnistria – either Kiev or the “aggressor” Moscow.