MOSCOW, May 20 – The decision made by Parliament on foreign debt is aimed at provoking a default in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

KIEV, May 20 – Finance Minister Natalie Yaresko has welcomed the statement of U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew saying that the holders of Ukraine's debt may need to make sacrifices.

"Everyone should be ready to sacrifice on the issue," she wrote on her Twitter page on Wednesday.

KIEV, May 20 - Valeriy Chaly, deputy head of Ukraine's Presidential Administration, met with Japanese Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Yasumasa Nagamine and discussed the provision of financial assistance to Ukraine.

KIEV, May 20 - The adoption of laws on providing the government of Ukraine with the right to impose a moratorium on payments on the foreign commercial debt will encourage lenders to accelerate talks on debt restructuring, Finance Minister Natalie Yaresko said.

LONDON, May 20 - Many holders of Ukrainian bonds are unperturbed by Kiev's threat to halt debt payments, noting that a moratorium would merely bring forward a widely anticipated default and could even result in a better long-term deal for investors, Reuters reported.

KIEV, May 20 - Ukraine is open to considering proposals to place a ballistic missile-defense system on its territory to ward off the risk of attacks from Russia, a senior official said Wednesday. So far no one has offered.

KIEV, May 20 - Ukraine suggested the European Union begin buying Russian natural gas at the border between Ukraine and Russia to prevent any future supply disruptions, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said Tuesday.

NEW YORK, May 20 – A petition calling for the designation of Russia as a "State Sponsor of Terrorism“ for its alleged covert operations in Ukraine collected more than 100,000 signatures, a threshold that now requires an official response from the White House.

BRUSSELS, May 20 - The European Commission paid out a first loan tranche of 100 million euros ($137 million) to Ukraine on Tuesday, launching a 1.6 billion euro macro-financial assistance loan program to prop up the beleaguered economy, the EU executive said.

KIEV, May 20 - Ukraine will not make a prepayment for Russian natural gas supplies in June because Gazprom has imposed a “politically motivated” high gas price, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said Tuesday.