KIEV, Oct. 19 – Ukraine has failed in its attempt to get Russia to lift key commodity restrictions in effect for the past 15 years.

Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said on Russian television Wednesday that the free trade agreement signed between Russia, Ukraine and six other nations of the former Soviet Union on Tuesday excludes crucial commodities such as oil, gas and sugar.

KIEV, Oct. 18 – The Regions Party has declared that the article under which former Prime Minister Tymoshenko was convicted will not be decriminalized even after the adoption a new version of Criminal Procedural and Criminal Codes.

BRUSSELS, Oct. 18 – The postponement of a visit by President Viktor Yanukovych to Brussels might start "a serious cooling of bilateral relations," said Pawel Kowal, head of the delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee.

KIEV, Oct. 19 - Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said Tuesday he was hopeful of further lowering natural gas prices for Ukraine soon despite Russia’s original refusal to re-negotiate the 10-year gas agreement.

The comment comes ahead of Azarov’s meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin due in Kiev on October 27 as both plan to discuss the natural gas sector.

KIEV, Oct. 19 - Bohdan Danylyshyn, a former economy minister and the key ally of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshneko, on Tuesday was detained in the Czech Republic at the request of Ukrainian authorities.

KIEV, Oct. 19 - Lawmakers loyal to President Viktor Yanukovych seek to change Ukraine’s constitution - again – this time by postponing presidential and general elections for months, a move that would give them extra time on their posts.

KIEV, Oct. 18 - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he highly appreciates prospects for cooperation with Ukraine’s aviation industry.

While visiting state enterprise Antonov in Kiev on Monday, the Venezuelan president praised Ukrainian aviation technologies, as well as Antonov's promising developments.

KIEV, Oct. 16 – There has been progress in relations between Ukraine and the European Union over the last four years, President Viktor Yushchenko said this in an interview with Belgium’s La Libre Belgique and De Standaard newspapers of Belgium.

KIEV, Oct. 16 – There are grounds to be optimistic about Ukraine's chances to become a member of the European Union, President Viktor Yushchenko said this in a statement following talks with Belgian Premier Herman Van Rompuy in Brussels on Friday.

KIEV, Oct. 19 - Naftogaz Ukrayiny, the national oil and gas company, reported on Monday that 93% of investors holding its $500 million eurobond had agreed to swap the debt into a new five-year eurobond.