Former US Ambassador to Russia advises everyone to start learning Ukrainian

This was stated by Ambassador Michael McFaul, Director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, US Ambassador to Russia in 2011-2014, during the 15th Annual Kyiv Security Forum, organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Open Ukraine Foundation.

He noted that after the collapse of the USSR, the US began to pay much less attention to the study of individual countries that were previously under Russian occupation.

"We had a rather Moscow-centered view. It's the same in academia. I am a professor at Stanford University and I will tell you that we do not have a department of Ukrainian studies. And this is a shame, this is very wrong. And if someone has millions of dollars to invest in a good cause, please contact me, we should think about it. And I'm not joking," he said.

Michael McFaul believes that the Western world, in particular the US, must decolonize the way it views the region, "not only in our policies, but in the way we teach its history and so on."

"I know that Timothy Snyder is working on this issue, but it's a much broader problem. Because Ukraine will become one of the most important countries in Europe, one of the most important countries in the EU and NATO. Therefore, we, in particular, as the United States, must begin to understand Ukraine in all its manifestations, in all its dimensions, and not just as a country located somewhere next to Russia," he summarized.

On May 25-26, the 15th annual Kyiv Security Forum "For Our Freedom and Yours / Fighting for NATO" was held with the participation of prominent international figures. The forum, among other things, formed the KSF Security Council and adopted a resolution with recommendations for the NATO Summit in Vilnius, which will be held in July.