Overview

Background

Ukraine shares land borders with Belarus, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia and Slovakia. It has maritime access through the Black Sea to the Aegean and Mediterranean seas.

Ukraine, the center of the first Slavic state, Kievan Rus, was the largest and most powerful state in Europe during the 10th and 11th centuries. Gradually, Kievan Rus was incorporated into the Lithuanian Grand Duchy and subsequently into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. During the 17th...