BRUSSELS, May 22 – The European Union expects Russia and Ukraine to reach a compromise on natural gas supplies and transit, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said, adding that he stressed this in a letter he sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin on behalf of the 28 EU member-states.

BRUSSELS, May 22 - NATO said Thursday that Russia still keeps a large "coercive force" that pose a threat to Ukraine despite recent withdrawal of some troops from border, Reuters reported.

KIEV, May 22 - Ukraine said on Thursday its forces had rebuffed overnight attacks by armed pro-Russian separatists on an army checkpoint and a border crossing and called for an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council to discuss Moscow's role in the violence, Reuters reported.

KIEV, May 20 – The Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ukraine has reported that as of May 22 the country is changing its previous practice of issuing Schengen visas for tourism and healthcare purposes.

KIEV, May 22 – Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko may have secretly watched opposition protests and street clashes in Kiev on Saturday from a rooftop terrace of a nearby building, a news website reported Wednesday.

KIEV, May 22 – Ukraine expects to have a future role in Afghanistan by helping its government repair its huge stockpile of Soviet-era weaponry, President Viktor Yanukovych said after meeting his Afghan counterpart in Chicago.

KIEV, May 22 – Parliament voted Tuesday to approve guidelines for drafting Ukraine’s 2013 budget, stipulating that it must be based on President Viktor Yanukovych’s initiatives and the government’s five-year economic reform program.

KIEV, May 21 – Ukraine is preparing to ship to Iraq a second batch of 62 BTR-4 armored personnel carriers, which were assembled at Kharkiv facilities under a large-scale contract worth more than $550 million for the supply of Ukrainian military equipment to the Iraqi customer, a source familiar with the implementation of the contract told Interfax-Ukraine.

KIEV, May 20 – Activists of the All-Ukrainian Vpered (Forward) civil action group will continue to hold rallies if the requirements of the spring march of protest are not fulfilled, said Natalia Korolevska, MP from the BYT-Batkivschyna faction and chairman of the Vpered people's board.

KIEV, May 20 – Ukraine will continue to follow its path to integration with the European Union, Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko said.

"We have the best rate of dialog with the European Union among the neighbors of the European Union in the post-Soviet area.