KIEV, Dec. 29 - Parliament approved a budget for 2015 on Monday that it had been under pressure to approve to secure the next tranche of financial aid under a $17 billion International Monetary Fund loan package, Reuters reported.

KIEV, Dec. 29 - Thousands of Ukrainians have staged a rally for the first time in front of President Viktor Yanukovych’s heavily guarded lavish private compound, potentially taking the protest to a new level.

KIEV, Dec. 29 – Viktor Medvedchuk, one of four figures helping President Viktor Yanukovych to deal with Ukraine's ongoing political crisis, on Sunday threatened to declare war on protesters after they had picketed his home.

KIEV, Dec. 29 – President Viktor Yanukovych’s campaign is devising a plan to spend $3 billion in cash to buy votes to secure his re-election in March 2015, a newspaper reported Saturday, citing sources.

KIEV, Dec. 29 – Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko hopes that the Association Agreement with the European Union will be initialed by mid-February.

"I am confident that during the first quarter, most likely by mid-February, we will initial [the agreement]," the minister said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

KIEV, Dec. 29 – One of the most important outcomes of the EU-Ukraine summit held on December 19 in Kiev, was the recognition by European partners of Kiev's fulfillment of the first stage of the Action Plan for achieving a visa-free regime with the EU, Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko said.

KIEV, Dec. 29 - Ukraine warned Russia it will reduce imports of natural gas dramatically next year unless the parties negotiate lower gas prices, Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuriy Boyko said Thursday.

KIEV, Dec. 29 - Five employees of Ukraine’s largest bank, PrivatBank, were killed on Thursday in downtown Donetsk during an armed robbery, with the attackers escaping and fleeing the scene.

KIEV, Dec. 29 – Ukraine's cooperation with the Customs Union under a "3+1" scheme should be based primarily on the principles of pragmatism and mutually beneficial cooperation, Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko said.

KIEV, Dec. 28 – Official information on Ukraine's state debt at the end of November, which was made public by the Finance Ministry on Monday, does not contain data on Special Drawing Rights worth about $1.8 billion obtained from the International Monetary Fund and converted by the Ukrainian government in November 2009.