Events pertaining to world affairs in 2022, national politics, public policy, government, world economics, and international business, that took place in various nations, regions, organizations, around the world in 2022.
All works published in 1926, except for some sound recordings, entered the public domain in the United States. Additionally, all sound recordings first published before 1923 entered the public domain in the United States; this was the first such release for sound recordings.[1]
The United States said that the Russian government had deployed saboteurs to eastern Ukraine to stage a fabricated attack on Russian proxy separatists in eastern Donetsk and Luhansk to provide Putin with a pretext for a renewed invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. said that the Russian operatives were trained in urban warfare and explosives.[4][5][6] The Russian government denied seeking a pretext to invade.[6]
January 17
Beginning in January 2022, the Russians began a slow evacuation of personnel from its embassy in Kyiv; it was unclear if the withdrawals of the personnel were "part propaganda, part preparation for a conflict or part feint" or some combination.[7]
January 18
By mid-January 2022, a Ukrainian Defense Ministry's intelligence assessment estimated that the Russians had almost completed a military buildup on the Ukrainian border, amassing 127,000 troops in the region (of which 106,000 were Russian Armed Forces land group forces and the remaining being sea and air forces) and further supporting more than 35,000 Russian-backed separatist forces and 3,000 Russian forces in rebel-held eastern Ukraine.[8] The assessment estimated that Russia had deployed 36 Iskander medium-range ballistic missile systems near the Ukrainian borders of Ukraine, each with a range of 500–700 km (310–430 miles), many stationed within striking distance of Kyiv.[8] The assessment also reported intensified Russian intelligence and combat sustainment units, such as movements of ammunition and field hospitals.[8][9]
Russian troops were reported to have sent an unspecified number of troops into Belarus. The official reason was to conduct war games with Belarus in the following month, however several officials from Ukraine and the White House stated that the troop presence in Belarus would be used to attack Ukraine from the north, especially since the Ukrainian capital Kyiv is located very close to the Belarusian–Ukrainian border.[10][11][12][13]
January 21
Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in Geneva. Blinken emphasized "was not a negotiation but a candid exchange of concerns and ideas".[14] Following the meeting, Blinken said that the U.S. had made clear to Russia that its renewed invasion would "be met with swift, severe and a united response from the United States and our partners and allies."[15] The U.S. delivered a formal written response to Russia's demands on 26 January. The response rejected Moscow's demand that Ukraine never join NATO. Blinken stated that the documents outlined "concerns of the United States and our allies and partners about Russia's actions that undermine security, a principled and pragmatic evaluation of the concerns that Russia has raised, and our own proposals for areas where we may be able to find common ground."[16]
January 22
the British government said that Russia was organizing a plan to supplant Ukraine's government via military force and install a pro-Russian puppet administration in the country, potentially led by Yevheniy Murayev, a former member of the Ukrainian parliament.[17][18] Murayev[19] and the Russian government denied the allegation, with the latter blaming the "NATO countries, led by the Anglo-Saxons" for the Ukraine crisis.[20]
the Biden administration also granted permission to the Baltic nations (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) to transfer U.S.-made equipment to Ukraine.[21][22][23][24] Estonia donated FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, while Latvia and Lithuania provided FIM-92 Stingerair defense systems and associated equipment.[25] Other NATO members also provided aid to Ukraine. Preexisting UK and Canadian military training programs were bolstered in January 2022, with the British deploying additional military trainers and providing light anti-armor defense systems, and the Canadians deploying a small special forces delegation to aid Ukraine.
ANormandy Format meeting was planned between Russian, Ukrainian, German and French senior officials in Paris on 26 January 2022,[28] with a followup phone call between the French and Russian presidents Macron and Putin on 28 January.[29] Ukraine fulfilled Russia's condition for a meeting in Paris and decided to withdraw from Parliament the controversial draft law on the reintegration of the Crimea and Donbas region, because it was viewed that the law was contrary to the Minsk peace agreements.[30][31]
May 9 – Sri LankanPrime MinisterMahinda Rajapaksa resigns from his post amidst violent clashes and the worsening economic crisis.[33] In response, Rajapaksa loyalists stage a violent assault against anti-government protesters at the GotaGoGama protest site, leaving over 130 were wounded or hospitalized.
