Ukraine

KIEV, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss Ukraine's security situation, Zelensky's press service reported Friday.

During the talk, the two leaders discussed the ways to unlock the negotiation process in the Normandy format, designed to end the conflict in Ukraine's eastern region of Donbas through diplomatic means.

Zelensky said that Kiev stands ready to continue active work within the Normandy Four, which includes Ukraine, France, Russia and Germany.

KIEV, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- A total of 442 people have died from COVID-19 in Ukraine in the past 24 hours, bringing the country's death toll to 90,343, the health ministry said on Friday.

In the past day, Ukraine has registered 11,327 new COVID-19 cases, the ministry said in a statement.

So far, some 45.2 percent of Ukrainian adults have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines, while 39.4 percent have been fully vaccinated, it said.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Belarus on Sunday protested what it said was a Ukrainian helicopter’s intrusion into its airspace amid rising tensions between the two neighbors, a claim that Ukraine immediately rejected.

The Belarusian Defense Ministry said it summoned a Ukrainian military attache to lodge a formal protest over a Ukrainian military helicopter that it said flew 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) Saturday into the territory of Belarus.

KYIV, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Russia has massed more than 94,000 troops near Ukraine's borders and may be gearing up for a large-scale military offensive at the end of January, Ukraine's defence minister told parliament on Friday, citing intelligence reports.

Oleksii Reznikov said Ukraine would not do anything to provoke the situation but was ready to fight back if Russia launched an attack. He said Ukraine was pressing ahead with the construction of two naval bases on its south coast.

KIEV, November 26. /TASS/: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on Friday blamed his predecessor Pyotr Poroshenko for the loss of Donbass, and Ukraine’s acting prime minister in 2014, Alexander Turchinov, for the loss of Crimea.

"Mr. Turchinov is one of those people who lost Crimea. And Mr. Poroshenko is one of those who lost Donbass. This says it all. It is my own opinion and, I am certain, the opinion of a majority of Ukrainians," Zelensky told a news conference.

KIEV, November 26. /TASS/: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on Friday blamed his predecessor Pyotr Poroshenko for the loss of Donbass, and Ukraine’s acting prime minister in 2014, Alexander Turchinov, for the loss of Crimea.

"Mr. Turchinov is one of those people who lost Crimea. And Mr. Poroshenko is one of those who lost Donbass. This says it all. It is my own opinion and, I am certain, the opinion of a majority of Ukrainians," Zelensky told a news conference.

KYIV, Nov 26 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday said Ukraine had uncovered a plot to overthrow his government next week, involving individuals from Russia caught on tape talking about roping Ukraine's richest businessman into backing a coup.

The Kremlin denied any role in any coup plot, and the businessman called the president's account an "absolute lie". Zelenskiy himself gave few details and stopped short of saying whether he believed the Kremlin was behind the plot.

KYIV, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Ukraine's foreign minister warned Russia on Thursday that an attack on his country would incur "political, economic and human losses" and would be too costly.

Russia has been building up forces near its border with Ukraine, and Kyiv, the United States and NATO have voiced concerns about a possible Russian attack -- a suggestion the Kremlin has dismissed as false. 

"We are not trying to guess what is in (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's head," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told a televised briefing.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Belarusian authorities say they have helped more than 100 migrants leave the country on Monday and more are prepared to leave Tuesday, a statement that comes after almost two weeks of tensions at Belarus’ border with Poland, where hundreds of people remain stuck.

Belarus’ Interior Ministry officials said Tuesday that 118 migrants flew out of the capital, Minsk, on Monday to their home countries after the ex-Soviet country’s authorities “assisted them with paperwork and passing through the state border.”

KIEV, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Visiting British Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace said his country stands ready to continue its support for Ukraine, according to a statement issued by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry on Wednesday.

"The United Kingdom stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine and will continue its long-standing determination to support them," Wallace said in the joint statement with Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov following their talks in Kiev on Tuesday.