KYIV, Dec 18 - The Ukrainian delegation is ready in January to take part in the next round of tripartite gas talks with the EU and Russia at the political level, initiated by Vice President of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic, the director general of the strategic planning and European integration directorate at the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry, Vitaliy Kushnirov, has stated.

KYIV, Dec 19 - The government has approved a new wording of the Maritime Doctrine of Ukraine for the period until 2035.

The draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers was approved without discussion at a government meeting on December 18.

KYIV, Dec 14 - The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) expects the growth of Ukraine's international reserves in 2018 from $15.54 billion to "slightly lower" than $19 billion, deputy head of the NBU Oleh Churiy has said.

KYIV, Dec 18 - The weakening of the hryvnia in December was caused by the impact of traditional seasonal factors, in particular, an increase in purchases ahead of major holidays and greater spending by the Finance Ministry, Acting Head of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Yakiv Smolii said.

KYIV, Dec. 18 - Ukrainian opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili appeared at the Prosecutor-General's Office in Kyiv on Monday but refused to answer questions from investigators, RFE/RL reported.

KYIV, Dec 19 - Ukraine has invited Portugal to joint work on the creation of a firefighting aircraft, according to Svyatoslav Tsegolko, press secretary for President Petro Poroshenko.

KYIV, Dec 18 - A potential disagreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and delayed lending remains the key macroeconomic risk for Ukraine, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) said.

KYIV, Dec. 19 - The U.S. special envoy for the Ukraine conflict has said 2017 was the deadliest year in the region since the outbreak of violence three years ago, and warned that hostilities are again ratcheting up.

KIEV, Dec. 19 - Ukraine said its army repulsed an offensive by pro-Russian rebels in the east who sought to seize territory near the strategic town of Debaltseve, BBC reported Monday.

KIEV, Dec. 19 - Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Viacheslav Kyrylenko said he is hoping that some 2,000 artifacts from Crimean museums from the Crimea - the Golden Island in the Black Sea collection (the so-called Scythian gold), which have an insurance value of one million euro, will be transferred to Ukraine next year.