KYIV, Dec 17 – Temperatures above zero seen in Ukraine in December are favorable for most winter crops, although there is a risk of killing buds of fruit trees if temperatures sharply change to below zero after December 25, Head of the agrometeorological department of the Ukrainian weather center Tetiana Adamenko has said.

KYIV, Dec 17 – The parliamentary committee for agricultural and land policy is finalizing the provisions that foreigners would not be able to buy land until the decision to allow this is made at a national referendum, Deputy Head of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction, MP Yevheniya Kravchuk said.

KYIV, Dec 17 – Ukraine will be able to quit signing new programs with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the completion of the new three-year program, Finance Minister Oksana Markarova said.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed legislation to slap sanctions on companies building a massive underwater pipeline to bring Russian natural gas to Germany, but it was uncertain whether the measures would slow completion of the project, Reuters reported.

KYIV, Dec 14 - The Government of Japan has transferred radio stations with secure communication channels to Ukraine's National Police. The value of the gear is $500,000. The equipment will be used for new base stations in the Sumy region.

KYIV, Dec 17 – Ukrainian fishermen will lose an opportunity of fishing in the Sea of Azov if the Ukrainian-Russian commission for fishery does not approve the acceptable amount of fish catch in 2019, the press service of the State Fisheries Agency of Ukraine reported.

KYIV, Dec 16 - Ukrainian Orthodox Christian priests selected a 39-year-old bishop to lead newly independent church, cementing a split from the previous Russian hierarchy in a step that’s further straining relations between the two countries.

KYIV, Dec 17 - A drive to impose more sanctions on Russia seems to be "gaining some traction" following a naval confrontation in the Black Sea last month, according to the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine, RFE/RL reported.

KYIV, Dec. 17 - Police and protesters have clashed in central Kyiv as several thousand people took to the streets of the Ukrainian capital to call for the impeachment of President Petro Poroshenko and the resignation of the country's top prosecutor, RFE/RL reported.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 – The board of the International Monetary Fund has determined that Ukraine's $3 billion debt to Russia has official, not commercial, status.