KIEV, Nov. 21 - Ukraine suddenly suspended a historic new alliance with the European Union on Thursday, halting plans for a free trade pact and saying it would instead revive talks with Russia.

KIEV, Nov. 19 – The Sofia Kyivska National Reserve and Kyiv Pechersk Lavra National Reserve will not be expelled from UNESCO World Heritage List, according to the Ukrainian Culture Ministry.

KIEV, Nov. 20 – Parliament has passed a law introducing biometric passports, taking into account proposals made by President Viktor Yanukovych.

A total of 243 out of the 355 lawmakers registered in the hall voted for the law.

KIEV, Nov. 21 - Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday once again asked Ukraine to join a Moscow-led trade bloc as part of negotiations over lower natural gas prices.

KIEV, Nov. 21 - Polish and Swedish foreign ministers are to meet Ukraine's richest man, billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, in a new bid to secure the release of Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, Reuters reported Monday.

KIEV, Nov. 21 - Ukraine's human rights envoy and a member of the pro-government party, Nina Karpacheva, said Monday that jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko has "extremely serious" health problems.

The envoy said that during a visit to her Kiev prison cell on Sunday night, Tymoshenko, 50, could not get out of bed, BBC reported.

KIEV, Nov. 18 – The International Monetary Fund's 2008 exceptional access Stand-By Arrangement for Ukraine met some short-term goals but made little progress in meeting medium-term objective: there was no major shift in policy making and politically motivated economic considerations continue to drive policy making in Ukraine, according to IMF experts.

KIEV, Nov. 18 – President Viktor Yanukovych signed on Friday a law on amendments to the Tax Code and some other Ukrainian laws on the single taxation system.

KIEV, Nov. 18 - The main focus of discussions at the 14th EU-Ukraine summit in Brussels on November 22 is expected to be on supporting the reform and democratization process in Ukraine, the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine reported.

KIEV, Nov. 21 – Protesting small business owners gave President Viktor Yanukovych time until late Monday to veto controversial new tax legislation and otherwise threatened political action that would seek to dismiss him.