Ukraine

Russian troops reach centre of Ukrainian bastion Vuhledar
Est. 4minRussian troops have reached the centre of Vuhledar, a bastion on strategic high ground in eastern Ukraine's industrial Donbas region that had resisted Russian assaults since Moscow's full-scale invasion, a regional Ukrainian official said on Tuesday (1 October).

Putin orders conscription of 133,000 servicemen in Russia’s autumn draft
Est. 3minRussian President Vladimir Putin ordered the conscription of 133,000 new servicemen in Russia's autumn draft that starts on 1 October and goes until the end of the year, according to a Kremlin decree published on Monday (1 October).

Trump to pitch quick peace deal with Russia in talks with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy
Est. 5minFormer US president Donald Trump is likely to renew its controversial pitch of a possible swift peace deal with Russia when he meets Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday (27 September).

Juncker recommends visa liberalisation for Ukraine, Georgia, Kosovo
Est. 3minEuropean Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Friday the EU should offer visa-free short-stay travel to the bloc for Ukraine, Georgia and Kosovo - all three locked in bitter disputes with Russia.

Ukraine ‘ready to pay the price’ for trade pact with EU
Est. 3minUkraine is "ready to pay the price" for a trade deal with the European Union, President Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday (16 December), after Moscow moved to restrict its own trade ties with Kyiv over the accord that is due to take effect on 1 January.

Bulgaria and Greece start building gas interconnector
Est. 3minSofia and Athens yesterday (10 December) signed a final investment agreement to build a natural gas pipeline to help Bulgaria reduce its almost complete reliance on Russian gas supplies.

EU eyes extending Russia sanctions before summit
Est. 2minThe European Union is likely to extend economic sanctions against Russia next week, before leaders of the bloc meet for a summit, diplomats said, after unexpected opposition by Italy blocked the rollover earlier this week.

Ukraine resumes power supply to Crimea
Est. 2minUkraine is resuming electricity supplies to Russian-annexed Crimea, a state energy official said yesterday (7 December), more than two weeks after unknown saboteurs blew up power lines to the peninsula causing widespread blackouts.

EU leaders to clash over Nord Stream 2 at summit
Est. 5minEXCLUSIVE / The issue of Nord Stream 2 will be discussed at the 17-18 December EU summit, but the exchange is unlikely to go very far because the countries opposing the project use legal arguments which are not widely accepted, analysts told EURACTIV.

Barnier: The EU is at risk of disintegration
Est. 7minMichel Barnier, former Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, now Special Counsellor for Defence Policy to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, said on Wednesday (1 December) that he saw a serious risk of the EU disintegrating.

Russia likely to curb Ukraine imports over EU pact
Est. 3minRussia is likely to penalise Ukrainian imports from January after EU-brokered talks failed to find a compromise yesterday (1 December), exactly a month before the launch of an EU-Ukraine free trade pact that Russia opposes.

Sources: NATO to offer membership to Montenegro
Est. 3minOn Wednesday (2 December) the Balkan state of Montenegro will be formally invited to join the NATO military alliance, diplomatic sources said, a move which could further strain already difficult ties with Moscow.

Seven EU countries oppose Nord Stream
Est. 4minEXCLUSIVE/ Seven countries, all new members from Central and Eastern Europe, have rallied around the position that Russia's plans to double the capacity of its gas pipeline to Germany run counter to EU interests and risk further destabilizing Ukraine, EURACTIV has learned.

Gazprom halts supplies to Ukraine
Est. 3minGazprom CEO Alexey Miller announced on Wednesday (25 November) that due to non-prepayment for gas, Russia has halted supplies to Ukraine, with which tensions are growing.

Steinmeier: Russia is serious about solution in Syria
Est. 4minRussia feels increasingly under threat from developments in the Middle East and appears to be serious about cooperating with the West to resolve the war in Syria, Germany's foreign minister said yesterday (22 November).

Crimea without power from Ukraine after electricity pylons ‘blown up’
Est. 3minCrimea was left without electricity supplies from Ukraine on Sunday (22 November) after pylons carrying power lines to the Russia-annexed peninsula were blown up the previous night.

Juncker opens the door to EU-Eurasian Union rapprochement
Est. 6minEuropean Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, suggesting closer trade ties between the EU and the Russian-led Eurasian Union once a ceasefire is implemented in Ukraine.

IMF says Russian U-turn on Ukraine debt is positive step
Est. 4minRussia made a U-turn, offering flexibility yesterday (16 November) for the repayment of $3 billion of Ukrainian debt, a move swiftly welcomed by the International Monetary Fund as a positive step.

Hague court says Maidan repression wasn’t crime against humanity
Est. 3minUkraine's security forces used "excessive and indiscriminate" force in the 2014 Maidan protests, but are not guilty of crimes against humanity, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said on Thursday (12 November).

Norway demands answers from Moscow over Arctic migrant route
Est. 4minAn increasingly popular route for migrants to cross Russia and into Norway has Oslo angered and worried as winter approaches, while commentators suspect Moscow is deliberately creating problems for its neighbour.

Poland wants EU to ban Nord Stream 2
Est. 3minPoland wants the European Union to ban the construction of a second pipeline to pump Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, alleging it undermines the bloc's strategic interests and violates competition rules.

Anti-gay vote ruins Ukraine’s chances for visa-free travel
Est. 4minUkraine's parliament yesterday (5 November) scuppered the ex-Soviet country's chances of visa-free travel to most EU nations by blocking legislation that would have banned discrimination against gays in the workplace.

No lifting of the visa barrier for Ukrainians, says Juncker
Est. 3minThe European Union wants Ukraine to pass a set of judiciary and human rights reforms before granting Ukrainian citizens visa-free access to the 28 countries of the bloc, the head of the EU Commission told Ukraine's President in a letter today (5 November).

Germany-favoured Nord Stream-2 risks strangling Ukraine, US says
Est. 3minA proposed pipeline to boost Russian gas supplies to Germany risks depriving Ukraine of more than $2 billion in transit fees, and runs counter to the EU's goal of reducing its energy reliance on Russia, a US official said today (5 November).