KIEV, Aug. 31 – Ukraine has managed rid itself of dependence on anthracite coal supplies from the non-controlled areas in the “ATO zone,“ Energy and Coal Industry Minister Ihor Nasalyk said.

KIEV, Aug. 31 – Tax reform is a top priority in the current work of the Finance Ministry, Minister Natalie Jaresko said, reporting on the work of the Cabinet of Ministers last week.

"Demilitarization of the tax police and institutional restructuring of the State Fiscal Service would make tax administration easier and reduce the pressure on responsible and fair businesses," she said.

KIEV, Aug. 31 – President Petro Poroshenko again stressed that the draft amendments to the Constitution do not envisage any special status for Donbas.

KIEV, Aug. 31 - After the final approval and formalization of an offer on the restructuring of Ukraine's sovereign and sovereign-guaranteed eurobonds, the Ukrainian government will forward it simultaneously to all of their holders, including the holders of the so-called Russian two-year eurobonds worth $3 billion issued in December 2013, Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko said.

KIEV, Aug. 31 - A member of Ukraine's National Guard was killed and scores of people were injured Monday in clashes between police and nationalist protesters in Kiev as lawmakers gave initial backing to a contested bill boosting autonomy in the country's breakaway regions, AFP reported.

NEW YORK (UN), Aug. 29 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he is alarmed by what seems to be a "dangerous escalation" in the crisis in Ukraine with reports of intensified fighting in the country south-east near the border with Russia, as the Security Council held emergency talks on the latest developments.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 - U.S. Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Sunday urged Washington to arm the Ukrainian government, saying it needed help to repel what they called Russia's invasion of the country, Reuters reported.

Senator Robert Menendez, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN the United States, European Union and NATO should work together to arm Kiev, which has been fighting Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine for months.

KIEV, Aug. 31 – Ukrainian forces and residents in Ukraine's eastern port of Mariupol braced for attack on Sunday from advancing pro-Russian rebels who Kiev says are backed by a Russian armored column.

KIEV, Aug. 28 – Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuriy Prodan met with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce Matthew Murray and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt to discuss shipments of coal or substitute fuel by U.S. companies.

KIEV, Aug. 28 – Subdivisions of the Russian army arrived as a helping hand to the illegal armed formations that operate on the east of Ukraine after the actions of the anti-terrorist operation's (ATO) forces were successful, President Petro Poroshenko said.