Trump made a bad mistake.
The President of the United States Donald trump during a greeting his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko at the White house used the word “the”, speaking about Ukraine.
This writes the newspaper The Washington Post in the article “trump called Ukraine as the Ukrainians hate the most,” noting that the White house made a “bad mistake”.
“I’m honored to be with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko (It’s a great honor to be with President Poroshenko of the Ukraine. – Ed.) of a country with which we are very connected,” said the U.S. President to reporters in the oval office.
“Trump is right: the United States is really a long time connected with Ukraine, but, unfortunately, he added “the” to the name of Ukraine. Although it’s an understandable mistake, it is such, which can annoy the Ukrainians because of the geopolitical consequences,” noted American journalist.
WP adds that some countries use in its name the definite articles, this occurs when the name refers to the geographical education United States of America, United Kingdom, Philippines (in English language, it is the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the Philippines. – Ed.). Thus, often “the” is not considered an official part of the name.
Thus, according to the CIA fact book, only the Bahamas and the Gambia officially include the name of the article. The media emphasizes that Ukraine is not referred to as “the Ukraine” in its Constitution or other official documents.
“Use “the Ukraine” in English was distributed for decades. When Ukraine became independent after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was clearly noted that her title is not “the”, and most news outlets adhere to that. The reason why the definite article was used in the name of Ukraine between 1919 and 1991, Ukraine was officially known as the Ukrainian Soviet socialist Republic (the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. – Ed.). Perhaps it was this Soviet period resulted in the addition of “the”, the article says.
“A more likely reason may lie in the etymology of the word “Ukraine”, which according to some scholars originated from the old Slavic word “Okraina” – the area near the border. This explains why “the Ukraine” is annoying to many Ukrainians. This error means that Ukraine can only be defined in relation to its larger neighbor, Russia, and the years of oppression that she experienced at Moscow in the period of the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire”, – said in the Washington Post.
The journalists stressed that calling Ukraine “the Ukraine”, questioned its sovereignty, and this “risky after the annexation of Crimea by Russia and its support of the rebels (terrorists. – Ed.) in the Donbas.”
“For trump, whose friendly look to Moscow has become infamous, it is especially uncomfortable. Poroshenko was visibly upset, while trump chose his words on Tuesday, but on Twitter, many pointed out the mistake,” stressed the article.
So, former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul has admitted that the US President was not properly informed.
“Good awareness on the part of the assistants could explain why “the Ukraine” so offensive to Ukrainians. He’s the President,” – said the diplomat.
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