KIEV, Dec. 27 - Economic Development and Trade Minister Stepan Kubiv states Ukraine has implemented all the necessary commitments to obtain the next tranche from the International Monetary Fund under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program.

KIEV, Dec. 27 – Ukraine has received the second tranche of EU non-repayable financial assistance in the amount of EUR 55.125 million as part of the financing agreement signed by the Government of Ukraine and the European Commission in 2014.

MOSCOW, Dec. 26 - Ukraine has cut off power to Crimea for the second time in a week, the Kryminform news agency said on Friday.

"Ukraine fully discontinued power supply to the Republic of Crimea at about 1:50 p.m. (Moscow time) today, for the second time in a week.

BERLIN, Dec 28 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel appealed to the Russian government on Sunday to use its influence on separatists in eastern Ukraine to implement a ceasefire plan agreed in Minsk in September aimed at ending the conflict, Reuters reported.

KIEV, Dec. 27 - Ukrainian authorities and separatists exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war on Friday, a spokesman for President Petro Poroshenko said, part of a 12-point plan aimed at ending the pro-Russian uprising in the east of the country, Reuters reported.

KIEV, Dec. 28 - Ukraine's parliament backed on Sunday the final reading of laws that will simplify tax legislation and impose additional duties on imports, improving the chances a 2015 budget will be approved soon as required by the country's Western backers, Reuters reported.

KIEV, Dec. 25 – The recent explosions in Odessa and Kharkiv aim at escalating tensions in Ukraine, in the opinion of the Ukrainian interior ministry advisor Zorian Shkiryak.

KIEV, Dec. 26 - Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Hroisman on Thursday signed the law expanding the powers of the National Security and Defense Council and its secretary.

A total of 253 MPs voted for the amendments.

Earlier, the parliament ordered its committees to improve the bill on December 23. A total of 302 deputies voted for that decision.

KIEV, Dec. 26 – Summing up the results of the "Concentration 2014" military and economic training program, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has ordered the protection of strategic facilities and critical infrastructure to be enhanced.

TBILISI, Dec. 26 - Georgian assistance to Ukraine has been exclusively humanitarian, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said.