KIEV, Dec. 25 - Ukraine and Russia rapidly drifted towards a showdown in the International Arbitration Court in Stockholm amid failure to reach a mutually acceptable compromise over natural gas prices in 2006, officials said.

MOSCOW, Dec. 23 - Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom (RTS: GAZP) on Friday carried out training of a crisis center set up to ensure stable supplies of gas to European consumers through Ukrainian territory, Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev said at a press conference in the Interfax central office on Friday.

KIEV, Dec. 23 - Ukraine is pressing for between $1 bln and $1.5 bln to be set as the yearly level for direct state subsidies to its agro-industrial complex at the current round of World Trade Organization accession talk, Economics Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said in Kiev, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

KYIV, Nov 25 – Ukraine is fulfilling its promise to strengthen its presence in African countries: it is expanding its diplomatic representation, still intends to hold the Ukraine-Africa summit and is ready to cooperate in many areas - from food supplies to technology exchange and security assistance, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

LONDON, Nov 25 - Britain sanctioned 30 ships in Russia’s so-called shadow fleet that have been skirting restrictions to transport billions of dollars of petroleum, the Foreign Office said Monday.

BERLIN, Nov 25 - Europeans will step up military support for Ukraine, Germany's defense minister pledged on Monday after talks with his British, French, Italian and Polish counterparts on how to foster defense efforts as Donald Trump is set to return to the White House, Reuters reported.

KYIV, Nov 25 – The updated Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies of Ukraine signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) contains an obligation to implement effective and transparent judicial reform consistent with European judicial standards.

WASHINGTON, Nov 25 - Two U.S. senators are pushing to boost shipments of lethal weapons to Kyiv as the West nervously watches Russian troops and equipment mass along Ukraine’s eastern border, Politico reported Thursday.

KYIV, Nov 24 - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded its estimate of Ukraine's GDP growth in 2021 to 3.2%, compared with 3.5% in the October forecast, according to Ukraine's memorandum with the fund, released on November 24.

KYIV, Nov 25 – Ukraine’s taxi drivers and passengers are now required to fasten seat belts according to new traffic rules that have come into force on Wednesday.