KIEV, Aug. 30 – Prime Minister Mykola Azarov on Thursday rejected speculation Ukraine may be heading towards default and suggested the government will continue a budget policy that challenges recommendations of the International Monetary Fund.

KIEV, Aug. 29 - Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski plans to discuss the situation with Ukraine's Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko during talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych this week, Polish Radio reported on Monday.

KIEV, Aug. 30 – Ukraine plans to cut Russian natural gas imports by two thirds within the next five years, replacing it with domestically extracted resources, like coal, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said Tuesday.

KIEV, Aug. 30 — The main suspect in the brutal slaying of an investigative reporter in Ukraine more than 10 years ago alleged on Tuesday that former President Leonid Kuchma played a role in the killing, AP reported, citing a lawyer.

KIEV, Aug. 29 – Yuriy Sukhov, a lawyer for former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, insists that part of the materials of the gas supply contract case have disappeared.

KIEV, Aug. 29 – Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko met with Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Tapani Katainen on Monday, during which he passed an invitation from Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov for Katainen to visit Ukraine in the near future.

MOSCOW, Aug. 27 - Talks on a joint venture between Russia's Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftogaz are at an "advanced stage," Gazprom, the Russian gas giant, said in a statement.

Gazprom chief Alexei Miller and Ukrainian Fuel and Energy Minister Yuriy Boyko focused on the joint venture at a meeting in Moscow on August 27.

KIEV, Aug. 30 – Parliament, at an emergency session on Monday, voted to approve amendments to legislation governing the upcoming local elections by letting a greater number of parties nominate candidates.

BERLIN, Aug. 30 - Chancellor Angela Merkel used a visit to Berlin by President Viktor Yanukovych on Monday to raise concerns about press freedoms in Ukraine, Deutshce Welle reported.

KIEV, Aug. 30 – A Kiev court of appeals on Monday upheld a previous ruling stripping two independent television stations of frequencies, a move that may suspend their expansion in the country’s regions and potentially destroy the channels.