KIEV, July 19 – Preparations for the winter heating season are proceeding ahead of schedule, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Vilkul said.

"The preparations for winter are proceeding ahead of schedule, and nearly 55% of the preparatory work has already been performed," he said during a conference call in Kiev on Friday.

KIEV, July 22 - All heating systems in Ukraine should be brought to a proper condition for the timely start of the heating season to ensure the unhindered supply of heat, President Viktor Yanukovych told Energy and Coal Industry Minister Eduard Stavytsky at a meeting in Crimea on Friday.

KIEV, July 22 - European values oblige EU countries to ensure a decent life and support for all persons unable to cope with financial difficulties, and this is in contradiction to the danger of a mass influx of citizens from CIS countries, said Nikolaus Haufler, a member of the Hamburg Parliament.

KIEV, July 22 – The leader of a protest march against police brutality announced a hunger strike on Monday after a Kiev court ruled he must be held for 10 days for violating rules for organizing rallies.

KIEV, July 19 – A Center of Polish Culture and European Dialogue is to be created in Ivano-Frankivsk.

"This is another step in the consolidation of the friendship between the Polish and Ukrainian nations," Ivano-Frankivsk Mayor Viktor Anushkevichus said during the signing of the declaration on the creation of the center.

KIEV, July 20 – The negotiations between Russia and Ukraine over the gas price should not lead to disruptions in gas shipments to Europe, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, European Commission Vice President Catherine Ashton said.

KIEV, July 19 – A criminal case opened on the alleged evasion of the payment of more than UAH 3 million in taxes by officials of the TVi television channel cannot be interpreted as interference in the work of the media, Kiev Prosecutor Anatoliy Melnyk said.

KIEV, July 20 – European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission Catherine Ashton have said they believe that the Ukrainian authorities should immediately stop the selective prosecution of political opponents in order to sign signing and ratify the association agreement and the agreement on the creation of a deep and comprehensive free trade area (DCFTA).

KIEV, July 22 – Ukraine, which is increasingly facing isolation from the Western democracies due to alleged persecution of opposition and slow reforms, has been seeking political and financial support from China.

KIEV, July 21 – The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Israel have signed an intergovernmental agreement abolishing visas for citizens with civil passports or service passports of Ukraine and Israel.