KYIV, Oct 28 – Ukraine on Thursday defended its first ever deployment of a combat drone to strike pro-Russian rebel artillery in Donetsk region after Germany and France had expressed concerns over the escalation.

KYIV, Oct 25 – The introduction of exit capital tax in Ukraine could affect revenue of the national budget, and the ability of the country to service external liabilities.

KYIV, Oct. 26 - A Crimean dissident sentenced to 20 years in Russian prison has been awarded the European parliament’s prestigious Sakharov prize in a sharp criticism of Russia’s human rights record likely to provoke anger from the Kremlin.

ODESSA, Oct 28 - The Odessa city elections commission has declared incumbent Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov the winner in the mayoral elections, even though Odessa regional administration chief Mikheil Saakashvili had suggested earlier that Trukhanov and his main rival would have to run in a second round.

KIEV, Oct. 28 - The U.S. administration's decision to give $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine is “a vote of confidence” the country will go ahead with reforms, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker said.

KIEV, Oct. 26 – Flights between Ukraine and Russia stopped at 00:00 on October 25.

Ukraine's Minister of Infrastructure Andriy Pyvovarsky said on the sidelines of the Ukrainian-German Business Forum in Berlin on October 23 that the sanctions imposed on Russian airlines which had violated the laws of Ukraine would come into force on October 25.

KIEV, Oct. 26 – Canada is interested in boosting cooperation with Ukraine in the defense industry, and the two sides are in talks about the development of bilateral military-technical cooperation, Ambassador of Canada to Ukraine Roman Waschuk said.

KIEV, Oct. 28 - Ukraine and Latvia will strengthen trading cooperation between the two countries in connection with the free trade area (FTA) between Ukraine and the European Union which enters into force on January 1, 2016, President Petro Poroshenko said.

KIEV, Oct. 28 – U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden is going to pay a visit to Ukraine in the second half of November, the presidential press service said.

The announcement comes a day after President Petro Poroshenko had a phone conversation with Biden.

The parties discussed the visit of Biden to Ukraine planned for the second part of November.

BRUSSELS, Oct. 28 - The European Commission remains committed to supporting Ukraine in its difficult economic situation and said is preparing new measures.