KIEV, Dec. 11 – President Petro Poroshenko and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades have discussed the extension of EU sanctions against Russia and the prospects for the introduction of a visa-free regime by the EU for Ukraine.

KIEV, Dec. 14 - Ukraine's economic recovery has begun and the growth of Ukraine's real gross domestic product in the fourth quarter will be 1%, according to Aivaras Abromavicius, minister of Economic Development and Trade.

KIEV, Dec. 12 – Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk has noted the difficulty of negotiations on the gradual decrease of the rate of the single social security tax payment to 15% with the International Monetary Fund.

MOSCOW, Dec. 13 - Russia will take counter measures if Washington imposes new sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Saturday, Reuters reported.

BERLIN, Dec. 14 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande urged Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko on Sunday to press ahead with reforms to facilitate an economic recovery and access to foreign aid, Reuters reported.

KIEV, Dec. 12 - President Petro Poroshenko lashed out at India on Friday over a visit by the leader of Crimea, the Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia, who accompanied President Vladimir Putin's annual summit delegation earlier in the week, Reuters reported.

KIEV, Dec. 12 - President Petro Poroshenko and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott held a meeting with members of Australia's group investigating the July 17 crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine, Poroshenko's press service reported on Friday.

KIEV, Dec. 14 – The Agrarian Policy Ministry again has upgraded the forecast for grain exports in the 2011-2012 marketing year (MY, July-June), to 25-27 million tons, on Tuesday.

KIEV, Dec. 13 – President Viktor Yanukovych has signed a law abolishing criminal liability for certain economic offences, Andriy Portnov, head of the presidential administration’s Main Department for Judiciary, said on Tuesday.

KIEV, Dec. 14 - A Ukrainian court on Wednesday dismissed criminal proceedings against former president Leonid Kuchma into accusations he ordered the brutal murder of a prominent investigative journalist 11 years ago.