Currently, the issue of sustainable development of rural areas is one of the most important areas of research. The relevance of the issue under consideration lies in the fact that economically stable and socially developed rural areas guarantee the stability, independence, and food security of the state. Therefore, the vector of their development should be a priority direction of state policy. The sustainable development of rural areas is currently being paid close attention to not only in Ukraine, but throughout the world. The sustainable development of the territory implies an increase in the efficiency of production located on it, an increase in the standard of living of the population, the presence of a developed infrastructure in the territory, as well as solving the housing problems of the population, reducing unemployment, and so on. However, the current conditions prevailing in rural areas prevent the formation of socio-economic prerequisites for this process. As a result, we can state the absence of a mechanism that ensures sustainable socio-economic development of rural areas. This requires immediate cardinal changes in the development policy of rural areas of Ukraine to increase their sustainability. The purpose of this article is to identify factors that affect the functioning and development of rural areas in Ukraine and systemic problems that hinder their development. Attention is focused on the formation of effective and efficient mechanisms for promoting the sustainable development of rural areas, as well as the development of a conceptual model for the sustainable development of rural areas. It is also necessary to identify priority areas of state policy for the period up to 2035 in the field of sustainable development of rural areas.