KIEV, Jan. 28 - Now that he has resigned as prime minister, he can devote more time to the Party of Regions, which he chairs, former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov told his Facebook friends.

KIEV, Jan. 30 - Ukrainian riot police allegedly beat up a busload of government supporters after mistaking them for opposition activists, the BBC reported Thursday.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 - The Obama administration is preparing financial sanctions that could be imposed on Ukrainian officials and protest leaders if violence escalates in the political crisis gripping Ukraine, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing congressional aides.

KIEV, Jan. 30 - President Viktor Yanukovych went on sick leave on Thursday after a bruising session of Parliament, leaving a political vacuum in a country threatened with bankruptcy and destabilized by anti-government protests.

KIEV, Jan. 29 – The draft of the new Labor Code, which was supported at first reading and is to be submitted for approval in 2013, foresees a number of innovations, one of which is the possible extension of the working day up to 12 hours.

KIEV, Jan. 29 – A mission of the International Monetary Fund arrived in Kiev on January 29 as planned, Interfax-Ukraine learned at IMF Resident Representative Office in Kiev.

KIEV, Jan. 30 – Stockholm Arbitration Court approved an amicable agreement between Ukraine and Vanco in late December 2012, Ukraine's Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Oleh Proskuriakov told reporters in Kiev on Wednesday.

KIEV, Jan. 30 - The Ukrainian government expects to reach an agreement on paying United Energy Systems of Ukraine's (UESU) debt to the Russian Defense Ministry by installments, Justice Minister Oleksandr Lavrynovych said.

KIEV, Jan. 30 – Ukraine assured the European Union on Wednesday that Russian natural gas supplies to Europe will not be affected by its emerging dispute with Gazprom over $7 billion penalty.

EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara in Brussels a week after Gazprom had slapped the penalty, Foreign Ministry reported.

KIEV, Jan. 29 – Opposition lawmakers will go ahead and hold a meeting in Parliament on Thursday in defiance of Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Rybak’s refusal to call the emergency session this week the lawmakers had demanded.