KIEV, Oct. 20 – Ukraine’s free trade deal with Russia and other CIS countries will not be a problem for signing a free trade agreement with the European Union later this year, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said Thursday.

KIEV, Oct. 20 - Seven months after election of Viktor Yanyukovych to the presidency, Ukraine plunged dramatically in the international press freedom ranking, underscoring a serious deterioration of freedom of speech.

BRUSSELS, Oct. 18 – The European Commission is considering various options for holding trilateral talks between the European Union, Ukraine and Russia to discuss energy issues, but there are no certain plans yet, Marlene Holzner, a representative of the European Commission and spokesperson for EU Energy Commissioner, Guenther Oettinger, said on Monday in Brussels.

KIEV, Oct. 20 – President Viktor Yushchenko said he hopes that Ukraine will receive the next tranche of a loan from the International Monetary Fund.

"I hope that common sense, including [that of] the current [IMF] mission, will win, and high-quality economic assistance in holding reforms will be provided," he said at the ninth plenary meeting of the consultative council on foreign investment in Kiev on Tuesday.

KIEV, Oct. 20 – A Ukrainian-Russian conflict over the Crimean peninsula is impossible, Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn said in London at a meeting with the members of the Foreign Affairs Committee chaired by MP Mike Gapes.

KIEV, Oct. 20 – The Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday that five controversial clauses of the recently-approved legislation governing the next presidential election must be amended to avoid clashes with the constitution.

KIEV, Oct. 20 – President Viktor Yushchenko warned Tuesday that Ukraine’s budget deficit has reached a “critical” level and now poses a threat to social and political stability in the country.

MINSK, Oct. 19 – Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko says that the development of Ukrainian-Belarusian relations is not aimed against anyone and that Kiev and Minsk share the same view on many issues.

BRUSSELS, Oct. 19 - The European Union should join in guaranteeing uninterrupted energy supplies to Europe via Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a Monday press conference in Brussels.

KIEV, Oct. 20 – President Viktor Yushchenko, followingfierce opposition from Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, on Monday was forced to reschedule the early election on Dec. 14, a week later than had been originally scheduled.