(Reuters) — Left with barely any cash as a result of Ukraine’s economic and political turmoil, the country’s largest steel company, Metinvest, has asked creditors for a timeout on repayments. Ukrainian companies are struggling to repay foreign debt due to a collapse in the national currency and

(VOA News) — The continued fighting in eastern Ukraine and the shelling of civilian neighborhoods seem to be pushing more men to join the separatist fighters. Although the Kyiv government, the United States and the NATO alliance have shown the heavy presence of Russian fighters and weapons among

(Reuters) — The Russian Orthodox Church has suspended a priest who publicly blessed a group of fighters heading to eastern Ukraine, encouraging them to battle government troops he called «fascist scum». Vladimir Zaytsev, from the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, was filmed on March 12 sending off some

(Reuters) — A legal conundrum is threatening plans to ease Ukraine’s debt burden and possibly its entire $40 billion IMF-led bailout: should a $3 billion Eurobond held by Russia be classed as commercial paper, or as bilateral sovereign debt? Kiev is trying to persuade holders of its commercial

(Reuters) — International lenders are delaying plans to offer Ukraine billions of dollars on concerns Kiev cannot yet prove the cash will not vanish into a corrupt economy which EU officials fear could remain a «bottomless pit». Ukrainian authorities are still preparing a much-anticipated donor

(Reuters) — President Vladimir Putin accused Western spies on Thursday of plotting to undermine his rule and «destabilize» Russia before elections by using public organizations for their own goals. At a meeting of Russia’s Federal Security Service, a successor to the Soviet-era KGB, Putin took aim

(Reuters) The crisis in Ukraine looks set to trigger major changes in its vast agricultural sector with state-owned farm land and small family plots likely to go up for sale despite concerns over the impact on local farmers, according to development experts. Ukraine, known as Europe’s bread basket,

(Reuters) — The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France agreed to meet in Belarus on Wednesday to try to broker a peace deal for Ukraine amid escalating violence there and signs of cracks in the transatlantic consensus on confronting Vladimir Putin. The four leaders held a call on Sunday,

(Reuters) — EU foreign ministers approved on Monday putting visa bans and asset freezes on more Ukrainian separatists and Russians but will wait until Feb. 16 to implement the measures to give peace efforts more time, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said. The leaders of Ukraine, Russia,

(Reuters) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday he planned to meet the leaders of Germany, France and Ukraine in Minsk on Wednesday if the sides moved closer to an agreement on implementing an unraveling 2014 peace deal for east Ukraine. «Conversation with colleagues from Kiev, Berlin

(Reuters) — Britain on Sunday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of acting like a «tyrant» over Ukraine, but said Kiev’s forces could not defeat Russia’s army on the battlefield and that only a political solution could end the bloodshed. «Ukrainians can’t beat the Russian army, that’s not a

(Reuters) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was unclear whether she and French President Francois Hollande would achieve a breakthrough with Russian President Vladimir Putin in talks later on Friday aimed at resolving the crisis in Ukraine. «It is totally open as to whether we will, with

(Reuters) — European defence officials warned on Friday that arming Ukraine in its fight against pro-Russian separatists would only inflame the conflict, but were told by NATO’s top soldier, an American general, that the West should consider using «all tools» if diplomacy with Moscow wasn’t

(Reuters) — Diplomatic progress was made during four-way talks on the Ukraine crisis and an agreement was reached on establishing security zones between pro-Russian fighters and Kiev’s forces, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. «Finally there was an agreement reached today that