We have been in daily contact with folks in Kiev an Lviv. They are extremely fearful about the events in the Crimea and feel that the Russians will use any pretext to invade the rest of the country. The quotes above about the language bans are being issued by Russian based sources and Pakistani sources. The Ukrainians are asking about the Budapest Memorandum, signed in 1994 by the US, Russia and the UK that provided security assurances for the Ukraine against threats or use of force if they would give up their nuclear stockpile. At that time the Ukraine had the 3rd largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world. They turned them over to the Russians where they were supposedly destroyed. China and France later joined in the memorandum. I haven't heard any of those countries leaders even mention their obligation to help defend the Ukraine.
