The document proclaimed that "henceforth, the Ukrainian People's Republic is an autonomous, independent, and sovereign state of the Ukrainian people." It also expressed a commitment to peaceful coexistence with neighboring states and emphasized that these states had no right to intervene in its internal affairs.^[3] The adoption of the Universal affirmed the authority of the state power of the Ukrainian Central Council until the convening of the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly.^[3] The executive body of the General Secretariat of the Ukrainian Central Council was reorganized into the Council of People's Ministers of the Ukrainian People's Republic, which aimed to continue negotiations with the Central Powers, securing recognition of the Ukrainian People's Republic as a fully independent state. These negotiations ultimately culminated in the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.^[3]

The Universal urged the government and citizens of Ukraine to resist Bolsheviks and other "adversaries" who had devastated the land during the Ukrainian–Soviet War.^[3] It proposed the dissolution of the national armed forces,^[b] and the establishment of a people's militia in their place.^[3]

In the economic sphere, the aim was to transition industrial enterprises to a peaceful state, with the anticipation of establishing state control over banks, major branches of trade, export-import activities, and implementing state monopoly on strategic products like metal and coal.^[3] Plans were underway for a land law that would redistribute land to the laboring peasantry without compensation, as part of the cancellation of private property and socialization efforts before the start of spring fieldwork.^[3]

The document also reaffirmed all public liberties declared in the Third Universal of the Ukrainian Central Council, scheduled re-elections to the people's councils, and called on all citizens to participate actively in the elections to the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly.^[3] The Fourth Universal of the Ukrainian Central Council explicitly outlined the establishment of a sovereign country as the ultimate goal for all Ukrainians. ^[3]

On 22 January [O.S. 9 January] 1918 the United Kingdom officially recognized the Ukrainian People's Republic.^[7] John Picton Bagge, the former British consul-general for South Russia in Odesa, was appointed as temporary chargé d'affaires and arrived in Kyiv.^[7] He met with Oleksander Shulhyn, the General Secretary of International Affairs of Ukraine.^[7]

• Constitution of the Ukrainian People's Republic
• Universals
  • First Universal of the Ukrainian Central Council
  • Second Universal of the Ukrainian Central Council
  • Third Universal of the Ukrainian Central Council
• Unification Act

• Russian Constituent Assembly
• Ukrainian Constituent Assembly

• Doroshenko, D. My recollections about the recent past (Мої спомини про недавнє минуле) Archived 2021-01-17 at the Wayback Machine. Lviv 1923-24. (in Ukrainian)^[4]
• Yakovliv, A. Fundamentals of the Constitution of the Ukrainian People's Republic (Основи Конституції УНР). Paris 1935. (in Ukrainian)^[4]
• Hrushevskyi, M. At the doorstep of a new Ukraine: ideas and dreams (На порозі нової України: гадки і мрії). Kyiv 1991. (in Ukrainian)^[4]
• Myronenko, O. Declaration of Independence of the Ukrainian People's Republic in January of 1918 (Проголошення самостійності УНР у січні 1918). Kiev 1997. (in Ukrainian)^[4]
• Ukr. parliamentarian: past and modernity (Укр. парламентаризм: минуле і сучасність). Kyiv 1999. (in Ukrainian)^[4]

• Universal of the Ukrainian Central Council (IV) (Універсал Української Центральної Ради (IV)). Verkhovna Rada. (in Ukrainian)
• Taras Hunczak. Appendix: The Four Universals. (in English)
• Shurkhalo, D. The Fourth Universal of the Ukrainian Central Council – declaration of independence of the Ukrainian People's Republic (IV Універсал Української Центральної Ради – проголошення незалежності УНР). Pavlo Hai-Nyzhnyk personal website from Radio Liberty. 21 January 2013.
• Melnyk, Ihor. The first day of Independence (Перший день Незалежності). Zbruc. 25 January 2017
• On 22 January Ukraine will celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the declaration of Independence of the Ukrainian People's Republic (22 СІЧНЯ УКРАЇНА ВІДЗНАЧАТИМЕ 100 РОКІВ ПРОГОЛОШЕННЯ НЕЗАЛЕЖНОСТІ УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ НАРОДНОЇ РЕСПУБЛІКИ). Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance. 2018
• Zinchenko, Oleksandr. Independence No.1: When Hrushevskyi announced it, why Vynnychenko doubt it and Yefremov was against it (Незалежність №1: Коли Грушевський її оголосив, чому Винниченко сумнівався, а Єфремов був проти). Istorychna Pravda (Ukrayinska Pravda). 26 January 2015
• Polishchuk, Lyubov. This first year may be also the last. Newspaper "Den". 25 January 2008.