KIEV, Dec. 22 – Ukraine plans to set up a free-trade area with Israel, says Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

KIEV, Dec. 23 – President Petro Poroshenko and his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin have noted the need for the full implementation of the Minsk agreements.

KIEV, Dec. 22 - Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk has warned that the cash-strapped and war-scarred nation faced an "economic catastrophe" if parliament failed to pass an IMF-backed austerity budget in a Thursday vote, AFP reported.

KIEV, Dec. 22 - Ukraine and pro-Russian insurgents have reached a vital "New Year" truce agreement that will go into effect at midnight Tuesday in the hope of finally ending clashes in the war-scarred ex-Soviet state, AFP reported.

KIEV, Dec. 23 – The Ukrainska Pravda online publication and a group of public activists have presented the Ukraine in Global Ratings project aimed at monitoring the real changes of the country's position in the key international indexes and ratings, on the basis of which the policy towards Ukraine is formed in the world.

MOSCOW, Dec. 23 – The approach by Brussels and Kiev at the talks with Russia on the issue of creating a free trade area (FTA) between the European Union and Ukraine has not been economic, but exclusively political, Russian Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev said.

KIEV, Dec. 24 - Ukraine is responding to Moscow's food embargo with "mirror sanctions" of its own that will take effect on January 1, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk announced Thursday, AFP reported.

KIEV, Dec. 24 – Parliament has supported a bill submitted by the government authorizing it to take countermeasures in foreign trade in response to Russia's discriminatory actions in relation to Ukraine.

KIEV, Dec. 24 – Parliament has passed a compromise bill amending the Tax Code (No. 3688) on provision of the balance of budget revenues in 2016, which envisages setting 22% single social security tax and revoking the 3.6% single social security tax imposed on salaries of employees, starting from 2016.

KIEV, Dec. 25 - The Ukrainian parliament on Friday adopted a budget for next year with a deficit of 3.7 percent of GDP, crucial for unlocking much needed aid from the International Monetary Fund and Western countries.