KYIV, Jan 20 - More steps are needed to protect a fragile ceasefire in eastern Ukraine as violations are rising, Reuters reported Wednesday citing Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde during a trip to the region.

KIYV, Jan 20 – Reforms will reduce the share of Ukraine’s shadow economy will drop to 20% of the GDP by 2025, down from 30% in 2019, the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture reported.

KYIV, Jan 17 – The International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ukraine’s largest creditor, praised the government and the National Bank of Ukraine for ‘prudent macroeconomic policy’ that is aimed at boosting economic growth.

KYIV, Jan 20 - Ukraine on Monday urged Iran to return the black boxes from a Ukrainian passenger plane shot down by the Iranian military with the loss of all 176 people on board, Reuters reported.

KYIV, Jan 29 - Ukrainian actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has said he is running for president of Ukraine, has admitted that he has commercial interests in Russia and has said he will divest himself of them "in the near future."

TALLINN, Jan 17 – The Baltic States and Poland are in favor of imposing new sanctions in connection with the events in the Kerch Strait, Estonian Foreign Minister Sven Mikser has said.

KYIV, Jan 17 – President Petro Poroshenko has said that increasing the level of social standards would be the main priority in 2019, the presidential website reported.

KIEV, Jan. 18 – Nearly 170,000 citizens of Ukraine received Russian citizenship, while about 350 Ukrainians got refugee status in the Russian Federation from 2014 until 2016, First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's representative in the humanitarian subgroup of the trilateral contact group Iryna Gerashchenko said.

KIEV, Jan. 18 – Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will visit Ukraine on an official visit in 2017 and will take part in the sixth meeting of the Council of presidents of Ukraine and Azerbaijan, the press service of the Ukrainian president said on Wednesday.

KIEV, Jan. 19 – All contracts to procure medicines using 2016 budget funds have been signed and tenders have been announced, acting Health Minister Ulana Suprun said at a press conference on Wednesday.