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.

KIEV, Aug. 19 - Russia may be preparing to halt its natural gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine, Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuriy Prodan said Tuesday.

KIEV, Aug. 19 - A gun battle broke out in the center of the rebel-held Ukrainian city of Donetsk and residents ran for cover from artillery fire on Tuesday, taking a government military offensive into the heart of the retreating pro-Moscow separatist rebellion, Reuters reported.

NEW YORK (UN), Aug. 19 - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed deep concern about reports of the shelling of a column of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Luhansk region and urges all sides to respect the rules governing the status of IDPs, the secretary general's spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, has said.

KIEV, Aug. 19 - As many as 1,026 reports of abductions have been registered in Donetsk and Luhansk regions since April 1, and the whereabouts of 558 people have been tracked down, while 468 remain unaccounted for, said Zorian Shkiriak, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister.

KIEV, Aug. 20 - Ukraine does not have funds to compensate savings in former Soviet Union's Sberbank and resuming these payments is unreal in the short term due to difficult economic situation in the country, Finance Minister Oleksandr Shlapak said.

KIEV, Aug. 20 – Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said the damage done to Ukraine by the actions of Russia-coordinated militants in southeastern Ukraine is estimated at billions of dollars.