KIEV, June 18 - Ukraine’s Parliament will vote within the next two days to approve a bill that introduces a state of emergency in the energy sector following Russia’s move to suspend natural gas supplies, an official said Wednesday.

KIEV, June 18 - Ukraine will start imports of European natural gas via Slovakia as soon as September 1, Ukrtransgaz, the state-owned gas shipping company, reported Wednesday.

KIEV, June 18 - President Petro Poroshenko put a pro-Western and business-friendly stamp on his leadership on Wednesday and made peace proposals for the rebellious east involving a unilateral ceasefire by government forces.

KIEV, June 17 – Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Vilkul says that Ukraine is seriously intending to gain the right to host the Winter Olympics in 2022.

KIEV, June 17 – Ukraine plans in 5-10 years to extract 30 billion cubic meters of its own gas every year and fully satisfy its gas needs, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said.

KIEV, June 18 - A parliamentary hearing on Ukraine's budget was suspended for several hours on Tuesday after opposition deputies alleged that a deputy finance minister presenting the budget report was drunk, Reuters reported.

KIEV, June 18 – A planned crisis meeting Wednesday between President Viktor Yanukovych and opposition groups appeared in danger of callapse following the news that Vitaliy Klichko, Ukraine's most popular politician, has suddenly refused to visit Yanukovych’s office.

KIEV, June 18 - Ukraine will turn its national natural gas producer and gas shipper into joint stock companies, potentially opening way for their future privatization, according to a government resolution published Monday.

KIEV, June 18 – Jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko plans a barrage of lawsuits against President Viktor Yanukovych in international courts following his recent remarks linking her to a contract murder 16 years ago.

KIEV, June 18 – Yuriy Boyko, the former fuel and energy minister of Ukraine and MP from the Regions Party, said that the present government's policies on the country's fuel market are inappropriate and unprofessional.