BRUSSELS, Aug. 20 - The European Commission sent Russian and Ukrainian energy ministers a document which sets out the main points on which an agreement on gas supplies to Ukraine is needed, European Commission energy member Miguel Arias Canete said.

KIEV, Aug. 25 – Ukraine could resume economic growth if there is no military escalation in eastern Ukraine in the near future, President Petro Poroshenko stated.

KIEV, Aug. 25 – President Petro Poroshenko says that a militant offensive into Ukrainian territory is possible.

"Does this mean that the enemy has abandoned the idea of direct invasion or an offensive of the militants deep into Ukraine? No," the president said in the center of Kiev on Monday on the occasion of Ukraine's Independence Day.

KIEV, Aug. 25 – U.S. President Barack Obama has congratulated Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the Ukrainian people on their 24th Independence Day.

KIEV, Aug. 25 - The U.S. Embassy in Kiev has announced its support for the Koktebel Jazz Festival which will take place in Zatoka, a small beach resort just south of Odessa, on August 23-30, and not the festival being held in Russian-occupied Crimea.

KIEV, Aug. 25 - Ukraine said Tuesday that the leaders of Germany and France had agreed to back "firm" steps against Russia should pro-Moscow rebels hold disputed elections in the ex-Soviet state's separatist east.

A top aide to President Petro Poroshenko said German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande had agreed at trilateral talks in Berlin on Monday to a set of "red lines" Russia must not cross, AFP reported.

KIEV, Aug. 24 - Ukraine and a group of its largest creditors are close to agreeing on a restructuring deal that will include a 20-percent writedown on the principal of about $19 billion of debt, the Wall Street Journal quoted sources as saying on Monday.

KIEV, Aug. 22 – President Petro Poroshenko has chosen the investment company Rothschild in a consortium with the investment group Investment Capital Ukraine (ICU) to prepare and organize the sale of his assets, which he promised to do after his election, Radio Liberty reported.

KIEV, Aug. 25 - Ukraine marked its 23rd independence day on Sunday with a military march-past in Kiev intended to send a message of defiance to Russia, but pro-Moscow rebels countered by parading captured Ukrainian troops through the streets of their main stronghold, Reuters reported.

KIEV, Aug. 25 - President Petro Poroshenko dissolved Ukraine's parliament on Monday and announced an election on Oct. 26 in the country, Reuters reported.

Poroshenko's decision had been expected after the governing coalition in Ukraine - which ousted its Moscow-backed president in street protests in February precipitating the separatist rebellions in its eastern regions - collapsed on July 24.