RUSSIA AND UKRAINE WAR: The Origin of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict, NATO, and How It Will Impact the Global Economy

The Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It used to be part of the Soviet Union and has a population of about 46 million people. It is one of the largest countries on the European continent. The capital city is Kiev and Russian is the main language spoken by most Ukrainians. The Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, who was elected in 2010, was ousted from office during a revolution that started on November 21st 2013 which was known as the Euromaidan Revolution which means “Euro Square” in Ukrainian. The Euromaidan protests were pro-European Union demonstrations in Kiev (the capital of Ukraine) and other major cities, demanding closer integration with the EU, while President Yanukovych wanted closer economic ties with Russia. Yanukovych left Kiev for Crimea and then flew to Russia together with some members of his government seeking protection. In February 2014, Russian troops occupied all strategic points in Crimea, Ukraine’s autonomous republic on the Black Sea coast. Russian President Vladimir Putin then announced his plan to hold a referendum on Crimea’s future. On March 16th 2014, about 96 percent of Crimean voters chose to become part of Russia.