Over the past 18 months, Ukraine’s president has traveled to 34 countries, while President Putin has ventured beyond Russia’s borders only about a dozen times, mostly to nearby states. We’ve charted the diplomatic movements of both leaders.
The ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war continues to put world leaders in a difficult position. Will they condemn Russian aggression, adhere to or evade sanctions, support Zelensky’s peace plan, visit Kyiv, or recognize Putin as a negotiating partner?
As detailed in our previous article, the choices made by leaders have not always reflected a clear stance: over the past 18 months, twenty governments and heads of state worldwide have opted to balance their foreign policies between Moscow and Kyiv.
In this article, we evaluate the diplomatic performances of the Russian and Ukrainian presidents: where they traveled and how many times, which leaders they hosted or maintained contact with—whether in person or via video and phone calls—and what new regions or countries they have engaged with.
During the period we examined, from February 1, 2023, to July 31, 2024, the Ukrainian president:
- visited a total of 34 countries, participating in nearly 200 negotiations,
- received delegations in Kyiv on 59 occasions from 30 different countries,
- predominantly engaged with European heads of state and government, accounting for 75 percent of all outreach.
In contrast, Putin:
- conducted official visits to 9 countries, including two trips to China,
- hosted leaders from 37 countries in Russia on 50 occasions (primarily from African nations),
- held most of his discussions with Asian partners during this period, which constituted 33 percent of all diplomatic contacts.
Twice the meetings, six times the travel
When considering all diplomatic engagements, it is Zelensky who has had a busier year and a half. Given the circumstances, this is hardly surprising: the Ukrainian president is relentlessly working to secure military, economic, and other forms of support from both existing and potential allies. In numerical terms, this means that between January 2023 and August 2024, the Ukrainian head of state engaged in discussions with national leaders a total of 405 times over the course of 577 days. This translates to nearly one diplomatic engagement every day and a half (1.4), even including weekends and holidays.
In contrast, the Russian president, who recently celebrated his 72nd birthday, has operated at a much slower pace. During this same period, he held discussions with foreign leaders just 181 times—half the number of Zelensky’s engagements. If we were to visualize the presidents’ schedules linearly, it would mean that, on average, diplomatic matters occupied Putin’s agenda every third day over the past year and a half.
Beyond the sheer volume of diplomatic engagements, the gap between the two presidents widens in other significant ways. Since January 2023, President Volodymyr Zelensky has visited 34 countries, engaging in nearly 200 discussions at various political and economic forums. In stark contrast, President Vladimir Putin has ventured outside Russia only 10 times, responding to merely 25 invitations during those trips.
The lower numbers can be partly attributed to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague in March of last year, accusing the Russian president of war crimes. This undoubtedly limits his mobility; however, there have been instances where some ICC member states—such as Mongolia, which relies heavily on Russian energy—have ignored the court’s mandate and welcomed Putin on official visits.
Hosts and allies
According to the data, the Russian president has preferred to invite the leaders of friendly nations to him: over the past eighteen months, heads of state and government from 37 countries have met with him for a total of 50 discussions. The majority of these guests represented African nations, including generals from the military juntas of Chad, Mali, and Burkina Faso.
In contrast, Zelensky’s record during the same period includes 59 official visits from 30 different countries. His diplomatic outreach extended beyond sitting heads of state, as former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and former Vice President Mike Pence also made personal visits to demonstrate their commitment to Ukraine’s cause.
Mike Pence’s whirlwind visit to Ukraine in June 2023. Photo: AFP PHOTO / HO / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE.
In Moscow, the most frequent visitor has been Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian dictator heavily dependent on Putin and supportive of the Russian state’s wartime ambitions, who has made a total of five visits. Following him are Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, each with three personal visits.
It’s no surprise that Poland, Ukraine’s most steadfast ally, leads on the Ukrainian side. Since 2023, President Andrzej Duda and the respective prime ministers (Mateusz Morawiecki and Donald Tusk) have made a total of six visits to Kyiv. Lithuania is not far behind, represented by Presidents Gitanas Nausėda and, after his inauguration, Edgars Rinkēvičs, along with Slovenia, whose leaders Robert Golob and Nataša Pirc Musar have each visited Ukraine four times.
Hungary lags behind among European Union countries: in a year and a half, former President Katalin Novák visited Kyiv once, and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has done so only once as well.
Hotline Diplomacy
The foreign relations between the two countries are not built solely through in-person meetings. A crucial aspect of diplomatic practice involves telephone consultations between heads of state, along with traditional correspondence—though the latter was excluded from this analysis due to its inherent one-sidedness.
Since January 2023, the Ukrainian president has engaged in a total of 149 phone conversations with leaders from 67 countries. This outreach encompasses a broader scope than those with whom Zelensky has personally met, underscoring the significant role that these calls play in shaping new diplomatic directions.
Ukraine is actively seeking to establish connections with countries that have traditionally been allies of Russia, such as Kazakhstan and China. A noteworthy example of this strategy is Ukraine’s outreach to Africa: since 2022, the country has been waging a “charm offensive” on the continent to counter the Russian influence inherited from the Cold War. President Zelensky strategically times his outreach, aligning phone calls with key moments; for instance, the inaugural conversation between Ukraine and Ethiopia occurred just days before the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg.
Zelensky on the phone on July 20, 2023, on the other end: Abiy Ahmed Ali, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. Source: Facebook.
In the past year and a half, Putin has also engaged in over 100 phone conversations, but his call list includes only 30 countries, which is less than half of Zelensky’s network. Additionally, the Russian president has reached out to leaders of territories that are not recognized as states under international law, such as Palestine and Abkhazia. During the examined period, Putin spoke most frequently with Erdogan, the current Iranian leaders, and the Uzbek president, with 11, 10, and 10 phone or video calls, respectively.
The Division of the World
The maps clearly illustrate Ukraine’s western orientation versus Russia’s eastern focus.
The Ukrainian president’s diplomatic outreach has primarily involved leaders from European countries, with nearly three-quarters of his interactions taking place with heads of state and government from EU member states. In contrast, Putin’s focus is primarily on Eurasia, with the backbone of his foreign policy consisting of countries in the post-Soviet space. Although Asia is also a significant player for Ukraine—its share of negotiations is equal to that of North America—Zelensky’s diplomatic network in this region is markedly different from Putin’s. The former leans more towards Japan and South Korea, while the latter maintains ties with China and North Korea.
On May 21, 2023, Zelensky negotiates with the South Korean delegation at the G7 summit in Hiroshima. Photo: AFP PHOTO / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE.
There is also little overlap between Putin’s and Zelensky’s Europe: by the end of 2022, the Russian president’s diplomatic relations with EU leaders had completely broken down—Hungary being the sole exception. Instead, he focuses on countries located on the eastern fringes of the continent, such as Belarus, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. (Among European nations, North Macedonia, Switzerland, Slovakia, and the Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina still maintain diplomatic ties with Russia at the ministerial level.)
Zelensky’s negotiation list clearly indicates his continuous efforts to expand Ukraine’s foreign relations beyond the EU and the United States. Over the past year and a half, he has initiated several historically significant engagements with distant countries, including the Philippines, East Timor, the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of West Africa, the Pacific nation of Palau, the Middle Eastern country of Bahrain, as well as Ethiopia and Uganda.
After a decade-long hiatus, the Ukrainian president has “begun a new chapter” in diplomacy with Iraq and Gambia, while opening multiple embassies in different African countries, including Rwanda, Ivory Coast, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Both sides are striving to garner global support for their war efforts, with Africa being no exception. The continent has already served as an expanded theater for the Russian-Ukrainian conflict; this past summer, Ukrainian military intelligence-supported rebels clashed with mercenaries from the Wagner Group supporting the government in Mali.
Putin primarily maintains close relations with the leaders of countries governed by military dictatorships, such as Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and the Central African Republic. These nations effectively function as Russia’s “fortresses,” receiving military support from Moscow through private military companies (Wagner PMC, Africa Korps) to help maintain the power of local governments. In return, these countries politically align with Russia and make Africa’s natural resources available.
Russia-Africa Summit, Late July 2023, St. Petersburg. Photo: Alexey DANICHEV / POOL / AFP
Ukraine’s negotiating potential in the African region is primarily tied to food security, which has come under threat with the intensification of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Zelensky has leveraged this issue to establish bilateral relations with countries such as Ivory Coast and Ghana—nations that condemned Russian aggression in the UN’s 2022 resolution.
Illustration: Balogh Boglárka
Data visualization contributed by: Minkó Mihály
Data collection contributed by: Dezső Annamária, Balogh Boglárka, Szánthó Dániel
Cover image: Alexey DANICHEV / POOL / AFP