MOSCOW, March 17 - Russia proposed on Monday creating an international "support group" to mediate in the Ukraine crisis but outlined terms that Kiev said were absolutely unacceptable and the West is unlikely to welcome, Reuters reported.

KIEV, March 17 - The pro-Russian authorities of Ukraine’s breakaway region of Crimea on Monday declared continental shelf in the Black Sea around the peninsula as property of Crimea to ensure its “energy security."

BRUSSELS, March 17 - Ukraine will sign an agreement on closer political cooperation with the European Union on Friday, leaving the signature of a more far-reaching trade accord for later, the EU said on Monday.

BRUSSELS, March 17 - The United States and the European Union imposed personal sanctions on Monday on Russian and Crimean officials involved in the seizure of Crimea from Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognizing the region as a sovereign state.

KIEV, March 14 - Ukraine will continue to reduce the amount of Russian gas it buys as long as its price remains high, President Viktor Yanukovych said.

KIEV, March 14 - Kiev and Moscow's gas negotiations are a matter separate from the negotiation process searching for a cooperation format for Ukraine and the Customs Union, President Viktor Yanukovych said.

KIEV, March 15 - The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has denied a report that it has reached tentative agreement on Kiev's cooperation with the Customs Union formed by Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

KIEV, March 15 - President Viktor Yanukovych on Friday urged the government to approve measures later this month that would protect domestic oil refineries against cheap gasoline imports.

The call was made in the National Action Plan, a program of economic reforms for 2013-2014, which was approved by Yanukovych and posted on his website.

KIEV, March 17 – President Viktor Yanukovych will be asked this week by a public group to dismiss Parliament amid other steps that may weaken Ukraine's opposition and bolster its pro-government party, a state-owned news agency reported Sunday.

KIEV, March 17 – Politicians that are also involved in business, who became ministers when Viktor Yanukovych won the presidential election, became richer over 2010, according to a rating of 200 richest people of Ukraine of 2011 published in the new issue of Focus magazine.