MINSK/KIEV, June 30 – Ukraine is going to ensure that visas for Ukrainian citizens to make short-term visits to the EU will be scrapped in 2016, First Deputy Foreign Minister Natalia Halibarenko said at a press conference in Minsk on Tuesday.

VIENNA, June 30 - Negotiations on financing the pumping of natural gas into Ukraine's underground gas storage facilities will take place in Kiev between July 6 and 11, Energy and Coal Industry Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn told journalists on Tuesday.

KIEV, July 1 – The fires in the Chernobyl forest preserve are under control, says the Ukrainian State Emergency Situations Service.

"The fires are being fought round the clock, but this is complicated by the fact that the swampy terrain makes it impossible for special vehicles to get close enough to the fire seats. As of 4:30 p.m., 30 fire seats were being dealt with. At the present time, the situation remains under control, and the fire has been kept from spreading to the forest areas within the exclusion zone," State Emergency Situations Service first deputy chief Oleh Melchutsky said at a news briefing in Kiev on Tuesday.

VIENNA, July 1 – The timing of the next round of trilateral gas negotiations will be determined by the summer vacation season on one hand and by the upcoming heating season on the other, and the parties do not intend to drag out discussion of contentious issues, Ukrainian Energy and Coal Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn told reporters on Tuesday.

BRUSSELS, June 27 - The June 27 signing by the EU of Association Agreements with Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine is not the final stage of cooperation, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said at the Brussels signing ceremony.

KIEV, July 1 - The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) reports it has detained a group of individuals suspected of plotting to blast a railway section in Kharkiv region.

SIMFEROPOL, July 1 - Former leader of the Mejlis (parliament) of the Crimean Tatar People and MP Mustafa Jemilev has expressed confidence that the European Union will not come to any terms with Russia regarding Crimea.

KIEV, July 1 - Ukrainian forces struck at pro-Russian separatist bases in eastern regions with air and artillery strikes on Tuesday after President Petro Poroshenko announced he would not renew a ceasefire but go on the offensive to rid Ukraine of "parasites,” Reuters reported.

KIEV, July 1 – Opposition groups suggested on Monday that President Viktor Yanukovych show up in Parliament on Friday to address lawmakers over progress the country has made on the path of European integration.

KIEV, June 27 - Ukraine and Russia on Wednesday made little progress in talks over natural gas prices, leaving the sensitive issue undecided ahead of a summit between the two presidents next month.