MOSCOW, Aug. 20 - American envoy Kurt Volker is to meet his Russian counterpart Vladislav Surkov on Monday to try to restore peace in eastern Ukraine, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

KIEV, Aug. 20 - Ukraine on Thursday was expecting the imminent announcement of a crucial debt restructuring agreement that could save the country from default, AFP reported.

KIEV, Aug. 19 – Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk has ordered the sale of 5% of shares in public joint-stock company Odessa Port-Side Plant scheduled for August 26 on the Perspectiva stock exchange be cancelled and new appraisal methods drawn up, said Ihor Bilous, head of the State Property Fund.

BEIJING, Aug. 20 – China believes that the Ukraine crisis can be overcome only peacefully through negotiations between all the parties concerned, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping told Russian journalists in Beijing.

KIEV, Aug. 18 – Ukraine is unlikely to immediately impose sanctions on Russia's Gazprom or introduce other sanctions that may disrupt gas supplies to Europe, Fitch Ratings predicts.

KIEV, Aug. 19 – The next two weeks will be crucial in resolving the crisis in the east of Ukraine, Ukraine's presidential administration said.

KIEV, Aug. 19 – Under the current foreign political conditions, the transfer of such powerful offensive military hardware as Mistral-class amphibious assault ships could have far-reaching negative consequences for security and stability in Europe, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevhen Perebyinis said.

KIEV, Aug. 19 – The Association Agreement signed by Ukraine and the European Union will be ratified by Parliament in September, according to Valeriy Chaly, deputy head of Ukraine's Presidential Administration.

KIEV, Aug. 19 - Ukraine by the end of the year will hold an auction to select a foreign company to manage the country’s vast natural gas transportation system, Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuriy Prodan said Tuesday.

KIEV, Aug 19 - Ukraine will lose 15 percent of its grain crop in two violence-hit regions in the country's east, a spokesman for Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said.