KIEV, May 17 - Pro-Russian separatist leader Valery Bolotov was detained by Ukrainian border guards on Saturday then freed by armed supporters in a firefight at the checkpoint, a Ukrainian spokesman said.

KIEV, May 16 - The West should impose tougher sanctions on Russia, which is waging a "hidden war" in eastern Ukraine, Ukraine's acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia said in an interview with German newspaper Die Welt.

KIEV, May 18 – President Viktor Yanukovych warned that he may fire Finance Minister Fedir Yaroshenko if the ministry fails to support Ukraine’s shipbuilding industry through state financing.

KIEV, May 16 – The defense of Batkivschyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko will appeal to the Court of Appeals against a ruling of Pechersky District Court of Kiev declaring lawful an instruction of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine on the opening of a criminal case against her on gas contracts of 2009.

KIEV, May 16 – The Ukrainian government intends to speed up the adoption of an aviation industry development program designed to run until 2020, which will foresee the corporatization of aircraft enterprises in order to improve their competitiveness, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development and Trade Andriy Kliuyev said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

KIEV, May 17 – President Viktor Yanukovych will visit Poland on May 27-28 to take part in a meeting of the heads of Central and Eastern European states, Regions Party MP Leonid Kozhara said.

KIEV, May 18 - The approval from the European Union may be required if Russia and Ukraine decide to go ahead with merging assets of Gazprom and Naftogaz Ukrayiny, a senior Ukrainian official said.

KIEV, May 18 – Ukraine seeks to resume imports of natural gas from the Central Asia and has asked Russia to stop opposing the efforts and to open its gas pipelines.

“We would like to get back to this issue,” President Viktor Yanukovych said at a business forum in Kiev joined by his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev. “This partially concerns oil, but mostly natural gas.”

KIEV, May 18 - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday Russia will not be “forcing” natural gas sector projects on Ukraine, but argued greater cooperation was needed to ensure steady transit of its gas to Europe.

KIEV, May 18 – A sister of an outspoken critic of President Viktor Yanukovych was arrested on Tuesday in an alleged bribery investigation, but was later released after senior officials had intervened.