Treaty of Brest - Litovsk ( Ukraine – Central Powers ) The Treaty of Brest - Litovsk ( , " peace for bread " ) was a peace treaty signed on March 3 , 1918 between the Russian SFSR and the Central Powers , but prior to that on February 9 , 1918 , the Central Powers signed an exclusive protectorate treaty with the Ukrainian People ' s Republic as part of the negotiations that took place in Brest - Litovsk , Grodno Governorate ( now Brest , Belarus ) recognizing the sovereignty of the republic . Although not formally annexing the territory of the former Russian Empire , Germany and Austria - Hungary secured a food supply support in return for the military protection . Ukraine was recognized as a neutral state to the Quadruple Alliance . Because of the civil unrest in the Russian Republic culminating in the October Revolution the Ukrainian People ' s Republic declared its wider autonomy under the government of the General Secretariat of Ukraine . In its declaration the General Secretariat announced the elections for the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly to be held on January 9 , 1918 and the first convocation on January 22 of the same year . Intentions . On December 17 , 1917 Vladimir Lenin as the head of the Sovnarkom released an ultimatum in which he was accusing the Central Rada of disorganizing the frontlines , stopping " any troops going into the region of the Don , the Urals , or elsewhere " , sheltering political enemies such as the members of the Cadet party and ones who sided with Kaledine , as well as obligating to " put an end to the attempts to crush the armies of the Soviet and of the Red Guard in the Ukraine " . Lenin gave a 24 hours notice to the government of what he called " the independent and bourgeois Republic of the Ukraine " to respond . Having Soviet armies already in Ukraine , the government of Ukraine had to act quickly to preserve the sovereignty of the state . The Ukrainian Central Rada expressed desire for peace treaty with foreign countries and its recognition worldwide . Since the representatives of the Britain and French Empires did not wish to recognize its sovereignty considering it as a part of their major ally , the Russian Empire , the treaty was giving a chance for some recognition in face of the Central Powers . On January 1 , 1918 a Ukrainian delegation headed by Vsevolod Holubovych arrived at Brest - Litovsk . The initial delegation beside Liubynsky , Sevriuk , and Levytsky included Mykhailo Poloz . The Peace Negotiations . The peace negotiation was initiated by the government of Soviet Russia on December 3 , 1917 represented by the delegation headed by the Ukrainian - born Leon Trotsky . Several resolutions were reached between December 22 – 26 and on December 28 , 1917 an armistice was signed suspending hostilities at front - lines . Prior to that a Soviet government of Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic was formed in Kharkiv on December 17 , 1917 . The final undersigning was being procrastinated by Bolsheviks in hope to reach some agreement with the Entente treaty members . On January 12 , Count Ottokar Czernin as a representative of the Central Powers recognized the independent delegation from the Ukrainian People ' s Republic , but together with Csáky refused to discuss the questions of the Halychyna , Bucovina , Subcarpathian Rus . They agreed that the Kholm Governorate and the region of Podlachia were part of the Ukrainian People ' s Republic . The Russian Bolshevik delegation , headed by Leon Trotsky , had at first also recognized the independent Ukrainian delegation on January 10 . The Ukrainian delegation returned on January 20 , 1918 to Kiev , where the Tsentralna Rada proclaimed a fully sovereign Ukrainian state on January 25 ( dated January 22 ) . Right after this a new Ukrainian delegation was sent to Brest headed now by Oleksandr Sevriuk . Meanwhile , Bolshevik revolts occurred in different cities in Ukraine , which more or less forced the Ukrainian People ' s Republic – which was lacking organized military forces – to seek foreign aid . However , the situation for the Central Powers was also critical , especially for Austria - Hungary , which suffered severe food shortages . On February 1 , plenary session of the Congress was attended also by the Soviet government of Ukraine in the face of Yukhym Medvediev and Vasyl ' Shakhrai . Nevertheless , the Central Powers continued to negotiate with the delegation from the Ukrainian People ' s Republic as the sole representatives of Ukraine . While the Tsentralna Rada was abandoning Kiev for Bolshevik troops , a peace treaty was signed in Brest - Litovsk during the night of February 8 – 9 over the Bolsheviks protests . The German newspaper " Lubeck Ads " on its front page ( Extrablatt ) printed the announcement about " Peace with the Ukraine " . " Today on February 9 , 1918 at 2 o ' clock in the morning the Peace between the Quadruple Alliance and the Ukrainian People ' s Republic was signed " . Signatories . Signatories Within days of the treaty ' s signing , an army of over 450 , 000 men from the Central Powers entered Ukraine , and after only a month most of the Bolshevik troops had left the country without any significant resistance . Soon after the takeover of Kyiv by Ukrainian and German troops , the Tsentralna Rada could return to Kyiv on March 2 . Terms of the peace treaty . The treaty recognized the following as the Ukrainian People ' s Republic ' s boundaries : in the west the 1914 Austro - Hungarian – Russian boundary which excluded the Ukrainian Halychyna in the new Ukrainian state ; in the north the line running from Tarnogród , Biłgoraj , Szczebrzeszyn , Krasnystaw , Radzyń Podlaski and Międzyrzec Podlaski in present Lublin Voivodeship ( Poland ) , Sarnaki in present Masovian Voivodeship ( Poland ) , Kamyanyets and Pruzhany in present Brest Voblast ( Belarus ) . The exact boundaries were to be determined by a mixed commission on the basis of ethnic composition and the will of the inhabitants ( article 2 ) . The articles in the treaty also provided for the regulated evacuation of the occupied regions ( article 3 ) , the establishment of diplomatic relations ( article 4 ) , mutual renouncement of war reparations ( article 5 ) , the return of prisoners of war ( article 6 ) , and the exchange of interned civilians and the renewal of public and private legal relations ( article 8 ) . Article 7 provided for the immediate resumption of economic relations and trade and set down the principles of accounting and tariffs . Austria - Hungary and the Ukrainian People ' s Republic also signed a secret agreement regarding Halychyna and Bukovyna . Austria - Hungary agreed to unify by July 31 , 1918 in one crownland those areas of eastern Halychyna and Bukovyna where the Ukrainian population predominated . But on July 4 , Austria - Hungary annulled this secret agreement under the pretext that Ukraine had not delivered to it the amount of grain promised under the treaty . It is believed that this action was the result of Polish pressure . The Central Powers signed a separate Treaty of Brest - Litovsk with Bolshevist Russia on March 3 , 1918 . Russia agreed to recognize the concluded treaty with the Ukrainian People ' s Republic and to immediately sign a peace treaty with Ukraine , to define the borders between Russia and Ukraine without delay , to clear the Ukrainian territory of Russian troops and the Russian Red Guard , as well as put an end to all agitation or propaganda against the government or the public institutions of the Ukrainian People ' s Republic ( article 6 ) . Effects of the treaty . The treaty immediately caused much opposition among Poles , particularly those in Austria - Hungary . Polish politicians in the Austrian parliament immediately begun their protests , paralyzing the parliament ; civil servants begun a strike , and spontaneous demonstrations took place in various cities and towns . Most notably , the Polish Auxiliary Corps refused to follow Austrian orders , and after the battle of Rarańcza broke through the front lines to join Polish forces in the Russian Civil War . Although the Austrian government in Vienna withdrew from parts of the treaty , the damage it had caused to the Polish - Austrian relations was significant , and the pro - Austrian and anti - independence faction of Polish - Austrian politicians were permanently weakened . The treaty of Brest - Litovsk provided the Ukrainian People ' s Republic with German and Austro - Hungarian military aid in clearing Bolshevik forces from Ukraine in February – April 1918 , but the treaty also meant that the Entente Powers suspended relations with the Ukrainian People ' s Republic . Soon , however , the invited foreign forces from the Central Powers were seen as occupants by a major part of the Ukrainian population and also parts of the Tsentralna Rada . In late April the German Supreme Commander in Ukraine , Hermann von Eichhorn , issued an order making Ukrainians subject to German military courts for offenses against German interests , the First Ukrainian Division ( the " Blue coats " ) was disarmed , and German soldiers even arrested two ministers after they criticized the German actions . The final break with the Tsentralna Rada came on April 29 , when General Pavlo Skoropadskyi declared himself Hetman of the Ukrainian state . The Treaty of Rapallo of 1922 between Germany and Soviet Russia canceled the German commitments made at Brest - Litovsk . The disintegration of Austria - Hungary in late 1918 automatically annulled its commitments . Turkey renounced the Treaty of Brest - Litovsk by signing a treaty with the Ukrainian SSR in 1922 . Only Bulgaria , as far as is known , did not formally annul the treaty .