KYIV, April 16 – The U.S. will support Ukraine’s bid to join NATO, but has urged the country to speed up reforms and strengthen democracy as important first step, Kay Bailey Hutchison, the U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO, said.

KYIV, April 13 – President Petro Poroshenko says he is sure that Ukraine will get all the funds Russia's gas giant should pay under a ruling by the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.

KYIV, April 13 – Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Oleksandr Turchynov and U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Robert Karem have discussed security issues related to Russian aggression that poses a threat not only to Ukraine, but also to the entire world.

KIEV, April 14 - Parliament has introduced a 10-year ban on the export of timber and lumber in its raw form (round timber), while a ban on wood exports (except for pine) will be introduced from November 1, 2015, and that for pine trees - from January 1, 2017.

KIEV, April 14 – The National Bank of Ukraine said that the foreign exchange market has stabilized in recent weeks and that it has started working on the gradual removal of restrictions on foreign exchange transactions in line with the commitments under the new program of cooperation with the International Monetary Fund.

KIEV, April 15 - Ukraine, unlike Russia, remains committed to the peaceful settlement process in Donbas, says Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk.

"I am deeply frustrated by the fact that Russia is in fact failing to implement the Minsk agreements, and I am saying again and again that it is necessary to fully and completely implement all provisions of the Minsk protocol that has been signed.

KIEV, April 15 – The Ukrainian government, under a proposal of the Finance Ministry, has made several decisions to resolve the systemic problem of financing the frontline territories and so-called "grey zones."

KIEV, April 16 - A Ukrainian journalist known for his pro-Russian views was shot dead on Thursday in Kiev, a day after the killing of a political supporter of ousted Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovych, driving up tension between Moscow and Kiev, Reuters reported.

KIEV, April 14 – Ukraine's Supreme Court has closed the "gas case" against former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, citing what it termed the absence of any actual criminal event.

BRUSSELS, April 15 – The European Union has extended the list of Ukrainians whose assets within the European Union will be frozen and who are prohibited from entering the European Union.