KIEV, May 25 – Ukrainian opposition groups on Tuesday had mixed reactions to plans by President Viktor Yanukovych to hold a roundtable meeting to discuss prospects for holding local elections in the fall.

KIEV, May 25 – Statements by Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Tuchynov are an attempt to hide the catastrophic aftereffects of January's Ukrainian-Russian gas agreements from the Ukrainian people, according to Yuriy Boyko, Regions shadow fuel and energy minister and former head of Naftogaz Ukrayiny.

KIEV, May 25 – In a message aimed at preventing Kiev’s increasing cooperation with the European Union and the U.S., Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Sunday that other countries must stay away from his nation’s relations with Ukraine.

KIEV, May 25 – Ukraine’s economy, hit by the global financial crisis, may have contracted 23% on the year in the first quarter, and is perhaps the fastest shrinking economy in Eastern Europe, President Viktor Yushchenko said Monday.

KIEV, May 23 - In response to growing prices of energy and rising pressure from energy producers, President Viktor Yushchenko on Friday called for the creation of a regional bloc that would improve energy security.

KIEV, May 23 – The National Bank of Ukraine remained sharply divided over the hryvnia’s future after its top governing body voted overwhelmingly in favor of the currency’s steep appreciation against the U.S. dollar.

KIEV, May 25 - The Ukrainian government has appointed Oleksandr Bolkisev, acting chairman of the national oil and gas company Naftogaz Ukrayiny, as board member at the company, a government??™s press service said Thursday.

KIEV, May 25 ??“ Loans borrowed by Ukraine in 2005 will allow the country to save around UAH 1.5 billion in coming years, the Finance Ministry reported in a statement posted on its Website.

KIEV, May 25 ??“ President Viktor Yushchenko, in his address to lawmakers on Thursday, singled out Ukraine??™s relations with the U.S. as ???strategic partnership,??? while relations with Russia had been downgraded to ???possessing equal rights.???

SOCHI, May 25 ??“ Russian President Vladimir Putin, defying U.S. criticism, on Thursday defended an option of using Russia??™s position of dominant energy supplier as a tool for promoting the country??™s policy agenda.