NPR.

This is the indicator from Planet Money.

I'm Stacey Vannick Smith.

And I'm Daryl Woods.

And Daryl, we are right now looking at roughly 100,000 Russian troops stationed along

Ukraine's border.

And this is, it's a little nerve-wracking, honestly, to see this.

It's been all kinds of meetings and negotiations all over Europe in the last couple of weeks.

And basically, the US and its allies are trying to convince Russia that there isn't any

need to invade Ukraine.

And it is a little hard to pin down the exact reasons for Russia bringing its military

to the border right now.

There's Russia-shared history with Ukraine.

Also Russia's sometimes acrimonious relationship with some of its European neighbors and the US.

And of course, their military presence in the region.

Anthony Blinken, he's the Secretary of State for the US.

And on Friday, he'll meet with the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

And what they're trying to do is really just see if this standoff can be resolved without

weapons.

And one of the main ways to negotiate a conflict like this without weapons is economic sanctions.

Sanksions.

So stopping trade and finance with the country is a tool for getting them to do what you

...