VIENNA, April 30 – Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash has said that he played a crucial role in securing a compromise between the opposition and the then president, Viktor Yanukovych, in February 2014, and suspects that Batkivschyna Party Leader Yulia Tymoshenko was behind the disruption of these agreements.

KIEV, April 30 – An international donor conference held in London has secured financing for the completion on schedule by the end of 2017 of the New Safe Confinement which is being built to cover destroyed Chernobyl nuclear reactor No. 4, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced.

KIEV, April 30 – International organizations, namely UNDP, UNICEF and the International Labor Organization, plan to launch a number of programs in Ukraine to help internally displaced persons and to ensure economic and social recovery of the areas affected by the Donbas conflict, with the use of funds being allocated by the government of Japan.

KIEV, April 30 – The National Bank of Ukraine plans to boost forex reserves to $38.4 billion by late 2019, NBU Governor Valeriya Gontareva said at a meeting with European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis.

KIEV, April 30 - Ukraine's emergencies authority on Thursday said that forest fires in the area of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant had not caused any rise in local natural radiation levels.

KIEV, May 1 - Ukraine is seeking more than $16 billion from Russia's Gazprom in its appeal to an arbitration court in Stockholm over a long-running gas pricing dispute between Kiev and Moscow, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said on Friday, Reuters reported.

WASHINGTON, April 30 - Russia's military may be taking advantage of a recent lull in fighting in eastern Ukraine to lay the groundwork for a new military offensive, NATO's top commander told the U.S. Congress on Thursday, Reuters reported.

KIEV, April 30 – Ukraine could reduce the list of negotiated duties under the World Trade Organization from 371 tariffs to 20-30, Ukrainian Commissioner for European Integration Valeriy Piatnytsky said.

WASHINGTON, April 30 - The International Monetary Fund today gave Ukraine a major financial shot in the arm with the approval of a $17 billion two-year Stand-By Arrangement, making about $3.2 billion of it available immediately.

KIEV, May 3 - European military observers held captive in Slaviansk in eastern Ukraine were released on Saturday, the town's pro-Russian separatist leader said, characterizing the move as voluntary and made to coincide with his birthday, Reuters reported.