German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed Monday a political amnesty in Ukraine as a "positive step" but urged progress now on a new government, after talks with pro-EU opposition leaders, her spokesman said.
Merkel stressed that Germany and the EU would do everything to contribute towards a "positive outcome" to the country's worst post-Soviet crisis, spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement.
Full StoryMoscow said Monday it would release two billion dollars this week from a vital aid package to Ukraine it had effectively frozen when protests escalated last month.
Asked about the next tranche of the $15 billion package, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told Russian news agencies: "This week, two billion."
Full StoryUkraine on Monday granted amnesty to opposition protesters after they agreed to end an occupation of Kiev's city hall and other public buildings, while opposition leaders were set to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel to ask for EU assistance.
A law dropping charges against protesters came into force a day after they vacated municipal buildings they had occupied in anger soon after President Viktor Yanukovych's November decision to reject an EU trade deal in favor of closer ties with Russia.
Full StoryLeading Ukrainian opposition members will ask Europe for financial help at a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a protest leader announced at a major rally in Kiev on Sunday.
Anti-government protests have been raging for close to three months in Ukraine, with demonstrators occupying Kiev's central Independence Square and other buildings in a bid to oust President Viktor Yanukovych.
Full StoryHundreds of angry demonstrators in Kiev issued an ultimatum to authorities Sunday, demanding amnesty for fellow activists just hours after vacating the highly symbolic headquarters of a protest movement rocking Ukraine.
"We are issuing an ultimatum to authorities -- if they do not immediately announce the complete and unconditional rehabilitation (of protesters) in some 2,000 cases, we will retake city hall," Andriy Illenko, a lawmaker from the nationalist opposition Svoboda (Freedom) party, told protesters.
Full StoryUkraine's leader has become a puppet of Russian President Vladimir Putin and is unable to take independent decisions on the country's future, jailed opposition icon Yulia Tymoshenko said in an interview Saturday, calling on her bitter foe to step down.
Anti-government protests have rocked Ukraine for more than two months after President Viktor Yanukovych rejected a key EU trade pact that would have seen the country move closer to the European Union in favor of tighter ties with Soviet-era master Russia.
Full StoryUkraine's leader called Friday for the opposition to yield some ground as authorities announced the release of detained protesters just days ahead of a mass, anti-government demonstration.
The move appeared to be a concession from the government of Viktor Yanukovych, but it is unlikely to appease protesters, who for more than two months have been occupying Kiev's central Independence Square and nearby buildings in a bid to oust their leader.
Full StoryShe dropped her job to join the revolution against a hated regime. Injured, she was treated by a young man who fell in love with her and a month later, the two were married.
The storyline could be that of Hollywood's newest blockbuster, but it happened in real life on Kiev's Independence Square, where passion has blossomed among the grimy tents of Ukraine's barricaded anti-government enclave.
Full StoryUkraine's opposition plan a mysterious "peaceful offensive" at a new mass protest on Sunday to put pressure on authorities, as negotiations to exit the crisis appear to have stalled.
Anti-government protesters have occupied Kiev's central Independence Square for almost three months after President Viktor Yanukovych rejected a key EU trade pact in favor of closer ties with Russia.
Full StoryGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel will Monday meet Ukraine opposition leaders including former world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko to discuss the country's crisis, her spokesman said.
Merkel will also meet Arseniy Yatsenyuk, a pro-EU former foreign minister of the Batkivshchyna party of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, in Berlin, Steffen Seibert said Friday.
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