BRUSSELS, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Ukraine's efforts to unblock deliveries of Russian gas as winter sets in were deadlocked on Thursday as Moscow's negotiators were quoted demanding firmer commitments from the European Union to cover Kiev's pre-payments for energy. EU-hosted talks were adjourned after running late into the night, Energy Minister Alexander Novak and the head of Russian... Forward>>

As the results of Sunday's parliamentary election in Ukraine roll in, and with them ample speculation about what the new government will look like—coalition negotiations are already well underway—the fact of the election itself is the best reason for temperate hope for the country's future. Fifty-three percent of the electorate turned out for what was by and large a fair vote, despite shelling... Forward>>

Russia says it will recognise the results of controversial separatist elections in eastern Ukraine, which the rebels plan to hold on 2 November. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said elections in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions "will be important to legitimise the authorities there". But Ukraine and Western governments say the elections should not go ahead. They accuse Russia... Forward>>

President Petro Poroshenko’s bloc is campaigning on a message of peace and unity ahead of Sunday’s election. But with the country so bitterly divided, parliament is likely to become another battlefield, writes Balázs Jarábik for Eurasia Outlook. October in Kiev has brought a gorgeous Indian summer. The reprieve from autumn’s slow creep towards winter gives the city a feeling of hope as it prepares... Forward>>

Europe is facing a challenge from Russia to its very existence. Neither the European leaders nor their citizens are fully aware of this challenge or know how best to deal with it. I attribute this mainly to the fact that the European Union in general and the eurozone in particular lost their way after the financial crisis of 2008. The fiscal rules that currently prevail in Europe have aroused a lot of popular... Forward>>

There are no active Russian servicemen in Ukraine – or so the Kremlin has been insisting for months. Yet a recent encounter in the only functioning restaurant in war-torn Lugansk belied that claim. As the sounds of Celine Dion wafted from the sound system of the Weeping Willow café on a recent evening, half a dozen Russian soldiers sat down to a vodka-soaked dinner. The men, dressed... Forward>>

Russia has been fiercely opposing integration of the former Soviet Union republics of Eastern Europe into the “western” blocs, such as NATO and the EU. Moscow has demonstrated readiness to use military means to avert this process. In August 2008, Russia invaded Georgia as punishment for its active pursuit of NATO membership and gravitation towards the West. Six years later, the... Forward>>

The fragile cease-fire in Ukraine appears to be holding, but President Vladimir Putin still has the upper hand. Increasingly, it looks like he intends to establish a Russian protectorate in eastern Ukraine. In the morning, when he drives from his apartment across from the German Embassy to his office in the Kiev city hall, everything seems normal. Outdoor cafés are humming with activity... Forward>>

Kiev published videos on Tuesday of what it said were 10 Russian paratroopers captured inside Ukraine, in the strongest evidence yet of the increasingly overt presence of Russian forces in the east of the country. The videos emerged hours before Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, began what were set to be difficult talks with EU representatives... Forward>>

We have not been particularly happy with the stance of the whole international community on events in Ukraine since the very beginning of the so-called undeclared war. There might be questions for each institution that considers itself a serious player in the political field of today, mind you almost for every state, and first of all for Germany. That very Germany that cannot make... Forward>>

On the first Wednesday of July, Yuri, a pensioner who spent more than two decades as a rescue worker in the Ukrainian mines, was preparing to finish his four-day shift: guarding his battalion’s checkpoint in rebel-controlled Lugansk. As he waited for other men from his pro-Russian unit, the Ukrainian army arrived. The rebel, who goes by the nom-de-guerre Kolyvan, was caught in a heavy... Forward>>

(Reuters) - Ukrainian forces have raised their national flag over a police station in the city of Luhansk that was for months under rebel control, Kiev said on Sunday, in what could be a breakthrough in Ukraine's efforts to crush pro-Moscow separatists. Ukrainian officials said, however, the rebels were fighting a desperate rearguard action to hold on to Luhansk - which is their supply route into neighbouring... Forward>>

Tension flared in Donetsk on Thursday as bombs landed in the centre of the once 1m strong city which has been taken over by Russian-backed rebel fighters and is now largely deserted. Meeting in Yalta in the Crimea with members of parliament and ministers, Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, warned the situation in Ukraine was getting worse. “Thousands of people have died, and hundreds... Forward>>

(Reuters) - Late last year, Ukraine’s consumer protection agency began filing lawsuits against Foxtrot, the country’s largest electronics retailer. By early March, Foxtrot faced at least 231 separate suits that demanded fines totaling more than $150 million. Many of the suits accused the company of minor violations of Ukraine’s labeling law – such as not placing a "quality seal" on tiny memory... Forward>>

As a Russian humanitarian convoy moves toward Ukraine, where it is scheduled to cross into the Kharkiv region on Wednesday under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting with security officials and preparing for his upcoming trip to Russian-annexed Crimea. In Kiev and throughout Western capitals, the humanitarian convoy... Forward>>

Late on August 7, 2008, Mikheil Saakashvili, then the Georgian president, ordered his troops to retake control of the breakaway republic of South Ossetia, including shelling the regional capital, Tskhinvali. Within hours, Russian troops – who had been conducting exercises on South Ossetia’s border – were pouring through the Roki tunnel beneath the Caucasus Mountains, launching Russia’s... Forward>>

NATO has warned that the Russian military buildup at the Ukrainian border could be a pretext to the invasion of the eastern European nation. Moscow has recently amassed more troops on Ukraine's eastern border, it claims. NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said on Wednesday that the Russian activities along the border with Ukraine were creating "a dangerous situation" which could... Forward>>

DONETSK, Ukraine — Residents say the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk is dying. The power grid was completely down Monday, the city government said, and fuel is running dry. Store shelves are emptying fast, and those who haven’t managed to flee must drink untreated tap water. With little medicine left, doctors are sending patients home. As Ukrainian government forces slowly tighten their... Forward>>

Ukraine's defence minister has said his forces are gaining ground significantly against rebels in the country's east. Valeriy Heletey told the BBC there would be victory "very soon". He blamed the rebels for the difficulties faced by international experts in getting access to the MH17 crash site. His remarks came as civilians in the east prepare for a siege as government forces close in on the rebel-held... Forward>>

It took the shooting down of a Boeing jet carrying almost 300 people before the EU agreed on the first true economic sanctions against Russia. The Americans want further action, but it is impossible to know if punitive measures can sway Vladimir Putin. It was the images. Absurdly tattooed pro-Russian fighters, cigarettes dangling from their lips and Kalashnikovs tucked under their arms... Forward>>

To the surprise of many, but not to those who understand him, Vladimir Putin has upped his aggression against Ukraine in the wake of the shooting down of MH17 by his separatist allies. (For a definitive account of separatist guilt, see AP What Happened: The Day Flight 17 Was Downed.) The Russian military is now routinely shelling Ukrainian positions from across the border, hoping to elicit... Forward>>

The shooting down of a jet carrying 298 people on Thursday could mark the turning point in the conflict between Russia, Ukraine and the West. With evidence suggesting pro-Russian separatists fired the missile, pressure is mounting on Vladimir Putin. A travel guide titled "Bali and Lombok" could be seen lying in the middle of the field of smoking wreckage, a nightmarish landscape... Forward>>

Press and diplomatic observers appear to have reached a consensus that Vladimir Putin has brilliantly outmaneuvered Europe and the United States with his New Type of War – a mix of masked military aggression, proxy fighters, bluffing with troop maneuvers, intensive propaganda, and the use of human shields. This consensus is wrong. My scorecard for the half year of hostilities shows... Forward>>

Amnesty International says that it has gathered "graphic and compelling evidence of savage beatings and other torture" by pro-Russian separatist groups in eastern Ukraine. The human rights group says that protesters and journalists have been targeted over the last three months. An Amnesty report, Abductions and Torture in Eastern Ukraine, says that hundreds of people have been... Forward>>

Vladimir Putin delivered a blistering speech last week to foreign diplomats in Moscow, accusing the US of reviving tactics of the cold war and declaring he would use all available means to protect ethnic Russians abroad. “Our country will continue to defend vigorously the rights of Russians, our compatriots, around the world and will do so by any means necessary,” he said. But since the Ukrainian... Forward>>