KIEV, June 16 - Ukraine is ready to let Russian militants lay down their arms and leave its territory, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Andriy Parubiy says.

KIEV, June 16 – President Petro Poroshenko has said he hopes that the military actions on the east of the country will end this week.

"It is proposed to discuss the details of the president's peace plan, which should be offered this week. Moreover, according to the decisions, which National Security and Defense Council takes today, there will be proposals for a cease fire as a beginning to the implementation of the president's peace plan," he said opening the NSDC meeting on Monday.

WASHINGTON, June 17 – The United States is actively cooperating with the European Union on new sanctions against Russia, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said.

BRUSSELS, June 17 - The European Union's top negotiator in the gas price row between Russia and Ukraine is working to bring the two sides together again before mid-July, but said a weekend of bloodshed in Ukraine had made the task far harder.

KIEV, June 17 - About 30 Ukrainian servicemen were wounded in fighting with pro-Russian separatists near Ukraine's eastern border with Russia early on Tuesday, Reuters reported citing the border guard service.

KIEV, June 17 - The government Wednesday plans to approve a bill on the state of emergency in the country’s energy sector after Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said Tuesday.

KIEV, June 17 - Ukraine said on Tuesday it was treating an explosion on a pipeline carrying Russian gas to the rest of Europe as a possible "act of terrorism" intended to discredit Ukraine as a reliable supplier.

KIEV, June 17 – Vitaliy Klichko, the leader of the opposition Udar party, has been rapidly increasing in popularity and may have the best chance of beating President Viktor Yanukovych at the next presidential election, an opinion poll suggests.

KIEV, June 15 – Ukraine's European partners should take into account the fact that the gas contracts of 2009 were signed at the expense of ordinary Ukrainian citizens, Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko said.

KIEV, June 15 - Ukraine is considering measures, such as tax breaks, to stimulate its domestic shipbuilding industry to build a fleet of tankers capable of shipping liquefied natural gas, Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Tyhypko said Friday.