KIEV, Feb. 5 - Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Tuesday ordered the Foreign Ministry and Naftogaz Ukrayiny, the national oil and gas company, to start negotiations to arrange direct natural gas supplies to the country.

GENEVA, Feb. 5 – Ukraine’s accession to the World Trade Organization received a green light on Tuesday after the trade body’s General Council approved accession terms, ending more than 14 years of difficult talks.

KIEV, Feb. 5 ??“ The Energy and Fuel Ministry will prepare a bill supporting construction of a natural gas pipeline across Ukraine to help increase shipments of natural gas from Central Asian to Europe.

KIEV, Feb. 5 ??“ Opposition lawmakers have threatened to stage a protest in Parliament on Tuesday demanding a report from Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych over plans to sign a controversial natural gas deal with Russia.

KIEV, Feb. 5 ??“ President Viktor Yushchenko on Monday nominated Volodymyr Ohryzko, a pro-Western diplomat, as foreign minister in a clear sign that the president is determined to continue Ukraine??™s integration into NATO.

KIEV, Feb. 5 ??“ President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych on Monday failed to reconcile their differences over the future system of government in Ukraine suggesting that bitter confrontation between the two will continue.

KIEV, Feb. 4 ??“ Parliament may alleviate political crisis in Ukraine by allowing judges to assume their duties at the Constitutional Court within the next seven days, Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn said Saturday.

KIEV, Feb. 4 ??“ President Viktor Yushchenko called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday to praise the creation of a 50-50 joint venture that would distribute natural gas to industrial consumers in Ukraine.

KIEV, Feb. 3 ??“ Ukraine will seek this year to join a special NATO membership plan that may ensure the country??™s accession to the alliance within the next two years, a senior official said Friday.

KIEV, Feb. 3 ??“ Ukraine will seek assurances from the Russian government that prices of natural gas supplied to Ukraine during the next five years will stay unchanged, a top official said Friday.