KIEV, Oct. 15 - A "rogue" band of pro-Russian rebels was surrounding more than 100 Ukrainian troops in the eastern Luhansk region on Wednesday, the local governor said, AFP reported.

MOSCOW, Oct. 15 - President Vladimir Putin warned Washington that a spat between nuclear powers over the Ukraine crisis could threaten global stability and said in remarks published on Wednesday that Russia would not be "blackmailed" by sanctions, Reuters reported.

KIEV, Oct. 14 – Ukraine should effectively defend its national interests without destroying the traditional links with neighboring countries, President Viktor Yanukovych said.

KIEV, Oct. 15 – The European Parliament has extended through mid-November the mandate for its team working on the release of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a newspaper reported Tuesday, citing European Parliament President Martin Schultz.

KIEV, Oct. 15 – The National Bank of Ukraine is in talks with the International Monetary Fund on the sending of a fund mission to Ukraine ahead of the October 28 parliamentary elections, Finance Minister Yuriy Kolobov said.

"The IMF leadership has recognized that they see progress and are ready to send the mission at any time - before or after the elections.

KIEV, Oct. 15 – The opposition Batkivshchyna party on Monday agreed to withdraw 28 candidates in majority districts to reduce competition for Udar party and other allies at upcoming October 28 parliamentary elections.

KIEV, Oct. 12 – The Batkivschyna United Opposition, Svoboda All-Ukrainian Union and Vitali Klitschko's UDAR Party have called for the re-privatization of enterprises withdrawn from state ownership illegally.

KHARKIV, Oct. 15 – Kyivsky District Court of Kharkiv has announced a break in a hearing of the criminal case against former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on the activities of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine (UESU) Corporation until 10 a.m. on November 13.

KIEV, Oct. 15 - Ukraine's IMF program is ‘at serious risk of going off-track at the next review in November, mainly because policy discipline has eroded even further, risking a delay in the disbursement of the next IMF loan tranche," according to Andrew Colquhoun, director in Fitch's Sovereigns Group.

MOSCOW, Oct. 15 – Russia said on Thursday it was worried about U.S. talks on the use of Ukrainian radar stations as part of a revised missile defense shield, Reuters reported.