KIEV, June 24 – Prime Minister Mykola Azarov says he plans to discuss with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin the issue of the return of 11 billion cubic meters of gas by Naftogaz Ukrayiny to Switzerland-registered RosUkrEnergo.

KIEV, June 25 – Further cooperation with the International Monetary Fund would not require the revision of macroeconomic indicators and forecasts for 2010, according to Finance Minister Fedir Yaroshenko.

KIEV, June 25 – Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Sivkovych has described as a provocation the statement by the former head of the state-run arms and military hardware export and import company UkrSpetsExport, Serhiy Bondarchuk, that main supplies of arms to Georgia were made in 2007 under the premiership of Viktor Yanukovych.

KIEV, June 28 – In a move that may have serious diplomatic consequences, Ukraine’s SBU security service on Saturday stopped and tried to deport a Western analyst belonging to an influential German think tank.

KIEV, June 27 - Thousands of protesters from throughout Ukraine, summoned up by an opposition party, joined a rally in downtown Kiev on Tuesday to protest against a scheduled increase in natural gas and power prices.

KIEV, June 28 ??“ A group of opposition lawmakers locked themselves in Parliament for 24 hours Wednesday seeking to block the legislature as the Regions Party had been trying to force the coalition to accept its ultimatum.

KIEV, June 28 - Viktor Yanukovych, the leader of the largest opposition group in Parliament, sharply criticized the government??™s plans to re-negotiate a key natural gas agreement that been signed between Ukraine and Russia in January.

KIEV, June 24 ??“ Samson International, a U.S. oil and gas extraction company, is considering investing into the development off shore deposits in the Ukrainian sector of the Black Sea.

KIEV, June 24 ??“ Investors from Germany, Italy, Turkey, Russia and Spain are showing an active interest in the purchase of Ukrainian banks or creation of new banks in Ukraine, first deputy governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Anatoliy Shapovalov told Interfax-Ukraine.

KIEV, June 27 - NATO is ready to help Ukraine in its bid to become a member, alliance secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Monday on a visit to Kiev, The Associated Press reported.