Please don't call it *The* Ukraine

We highly recommend finding out more about what Ukrainians think or what some of their pro-democracy resources have to say. Please visit Hromadske and KyivPost. If you’re Ukrainian is a little rusty, they have English webpages.  Ukraine has received several loans from the IMF over the years. If you’re curious about this topic, here’s Wiki’s take on it, and also the IMF’s official site.  The peace talk between Ukraine and Russia has many interpretations, literally. It remains to be seen if the ceasefire will be fully implemented by the end of 2019.  Michelle can’t say Kievan Rus’ correctly.  Check out how large the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was. The Russo-Georgian War of 2008 is considered the first European war of the 21st century and has some similarities to Russian tactics in Crimea and the Donbas region.  The estimated nuclear weapon stockpile of Russia is a cool 6,490, a few hundred more than the US. Each country is believed to have around 1,400 “strategically deployed” warheads.  Here is the Foreign Affairs article Noel discusses.  So Russia understands the importance of Ukraine, but does the West? Only if it’s all about us.  If you have the time, please listen to Timothy Snyder’s points about language and its power.