IMF Holds Key To Helping Ukraine Escape From Russia’s Stranglehold

Greece is a deadbeat nation, Puerto Rico is a party that lives beyond its means, but last year war-torn Ukraine made more interest payments to its lenders than it spent trying to defend itself against Russia.

I just returned from a trip to Ukraine and learned that Ukraine was forced to make a $75 million bond payment to Russia, the perpetrator behind the occupation of nine per cent of Ukraine, deaths of 6,200, wounding of 30,000 and displacement of 1.3 million Ukrainians.

Ukraine is not another Greece or Puerto Rico. This is an occupied country crippled by a war with a ruthless neighbor that has been slowly taking over the country’s economy and institutions since Ukraine left the Soviet fold in 1991.

The $75 million payment was necessary because Russia could have put Ukraine into default, triggering an unholy mess among lenders. This week, another $125 million payment due to…