| Agency Name: | National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine |
| Nativename: | Рада національної безпеки і оборони України |
| Seal: | NSDCU flag.svg |
| Formed: | 11 October 1991 |
| Preceding1: | Defense Council of the National Security Council |
| Headquarters: | 8, Petra Bolbochana Street, Kyiv, Ukraine, 01601[1] |
| Chief1 Name: | Volodymyr Zelensky |
| Chief1 Position: | President of Ukraine and Chairman of NSDC |
| Chief2 Name: | Oleksandr Lytvynenko |
| Chief2 Position: | Secretary of NSDC |
| Parent Agency: | President of Ukraine |
The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC; Ukrainian: Рада національної безпеки і оборони України|translit=Rada natsionalnoyi bezpeky i oboroni Ukrayiny, RNBO or RNBOU) is the coordinating state body of the executive power under the President of Ukraine on issues of national security and defense.[2]
It is a state agency tasked with developing and coordinating a policy of national security on domestic and international matters in advising the President of Ukraine (currently Volodymyr Zelensky).[2] All the sessions of the council take place in the Presidential Administration Building. The agency's membership is determined by the President, but it must include the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Defense, Minister of Internal Affairs, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.[2] The council is headed by secretary Oleksiy Danilov since 3 October 2019.[2]
As of March 2024, the National Security and Defence Council consists of the following members:[3]
| Volodymyr Zelenskyy | President of Ukraine and Chairman of the NSDC | |
| Oleksandr Lytvynenko | Secretary of the NSDC | |
| Denys Shmyhal | Prime Minister of Ukraine | |
| Rustem Umerov | Minister of Defense | |
| Dmytro Kuleba | Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| Serhiy Marchenko | Minister of Finance | |
| Ihor Klymenko | Minister of Internal Affairs | |
| Herman Halushchenko | Minister of Energy | |
| Yulia Laputina | Minister for Veterans Affairs | |
| Valerii Zaluzhnyi | Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine | |
| Vasyl Malyuk | Head of the Ukrainian Security Service | |
| Andriy Kostin | Prosecutor General of Ukraine | |
| Andriy Yermak | Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine | |
| Anatoliy Zahorodniy | President of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine | |
| Oleksandr Lyvtynenko | Chairman of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine | |
| Oleksandr Kamyshin | Minister for Strategic Industries | |
| Yulia Svyrydenko | First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy | |
| Ruslan Stefanchuk | Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada | |
| Olha Stefanishyna | Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine | |
| Mykhailo Fedorov | Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation | |
| Head of the State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine | ||
| Andriy Pyshnyi | Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine |
The Defense Council was created by the provision of Supreme Council of Ukraine #1658-12 on October 11, 1991. The Defense Council was defined as the highest state body of collegiate governing on matters of defense and security of Ukraine with following goals:
On January 23, 1992 the President of Ukraine appointed Myroslav Vitovsky as a secretary of the Defense Council, a position which Vitovsky held until November 30, 1995.
After the establishment and elections of the President of Ukraine the composition of the council was reformed on April 9, 1992 by a provision of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament).[5]
The Council was originally created under temporary provision on July 3, 1992 as the National Security Council, but significantly revamped and strengthened under President Leonid Kuchma in 1994. The council was headed by a Presidential adviser in national security matters:
On August 23, 1994 President of Ukraine adopted new provision for the Council. After the adaptation of the Constitution of Ukraine on June 28, 1996, the provisions of the council (National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine) were outlined in the Article 107. Thus the National Security Council was merged with the already existing Defense Council of Ukraine and was adapted by the Presidential edict on August 30, 1996.
According to former secretary Andriy Klyuyev, 460 people worked at the Council in 2010, while in April 2012 the number of employees was 90. President Viktor Yanukovych limited the number of employees of the Council to 180 on 9 April 2012.[6]
The agency's membership is determined by the President, but it must include the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Defense, Minister of Internal Affairs, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.[2] The head of the council is the President of Ukraine assisted by the secretary whom they are allowed to appoint. In the absence of existing President of Ukraine, such as between elections, the acting chairman of the council is the Prime Minister. The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada is not a member of the council, but they are allowed to participate in the meetings. Members of the council may also be other chairmen of government bodies of the executive branch. Any other individual is only allowed by special invitation from the Chairman of the Council.
If the President resigns, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada becomes the acting head of the National Security and Defense Council.[7]
| Name | Secretary of Council | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Volodymyr Horbulin | August 30, 1994 — November 10, 1999 | |
| 2 | Yevhen Marchuk | November 10, 1999 — June 25, 2003 | |
| 3 | Volodymyr Radchenko | September 2, 2003 — January 20, 2005 | |
| 4 | Petro Poroshenko | February 8, 2005 — September 8, 2005 | |
| 5 | Anatoliy Kinakh | September 27, 2005 — May 16, 2006 | |
| act. | Volodymyr Horbulin | May 24, 2006 — October 10, 2006 | |
| 6 | Vitaliy Haiduk | October 10, 2006 — May 12, 2007[8] | |
| 7 | Ivan Plyushch | May 12, 2007 — November 26, 2007 | |
| 8 | Raisa Bogatyrova | December 24, 2007 — February 14, 2012 | |
| 9 | Andriy Klyuyev | February 14, 2012 — January 24, 2014[9] | |
| 10 | Andriy Parubiy | February 27, 2014 — August 7, 2014[10] | |
| 11 | Oleksandr Turchynov | December 16, 2014[11] — May 19, 2019[12] | |
| 12 | Oleksandr Danylyuk | May 28, 2019[13] — September 27, 2019[14] | |
| 13 | Oleksiy Danilov | October 3, 2019[15] — March 26, 2024[16] | |
| 14 | Oleksandr Lytvynenko | March 26, 2024 — present |