Ukraine

KIEV, October 18. /TASS/: Naftogaz of Ukraine presented an application for participation in certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline operator, CEO of the company Yuri Vitrenko said at a briefing on Monday.

"We submitted an application for participation in certification of the Nord Stream 2 operator," he said.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Belarus on Monday ordered a halt to routine medical care at state clinics in order to devote more resources to coronavirus patients.

The Health Ministry said the suspended services include medical examinations and screenings, physiotherapy and dentistry.

Belarus has been hit by a rising wave of coronavirus infections, with around 2,000 new cases reported daily in the country of 9.3 million.

KYIV, Oct 17 (Reuters) - The Organization for Security and Cooperation on Europe has suspended its monitoring mission in eastern Ukraine following protests near its headquarters in separatist-controlled Donetsk, the chief monitor said on Sunday.

About 200 pro-Russian protesters confronted OSCE monitors on Saturday to demand the release of a rebel officer captured by the Ukrainian military last week. The mission had faced previous protests organised by Moscow-backed separatists, but this time demonstrators appeared to block the entrance to the hotel where the monitors are based.

KIEV, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine and the European Union on Tuesday signed an open-skies agreement that will establish a joint aviation space, the Ukrainian presidential press service said.

The agreement, inked at the 23rd Ukraine-EU Summit in Kiev, will open up the air markets of Ukraine and the EU and bolster air safety, air traffic, and environmental protection, the presidential press service said in a statement.

The open-skies agreement must be ratified by Ukraine and each EU member state to take effect.

KYIV, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The European Union will give a "firm answer" to a ruling by Poland's top court challenging the primacy of EU law, and will tell Warsaw to "abide by the rules of the club," the EU's top diplomat said on Tuesday.

In comments to Reuters in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell reiterated the executive European Commission's concern about last week's ruling, but did not indicate what steps it might take to bring Poland into line.

KIEV, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian lawmakers on Friday have voted to appoint Ruslan Stefanchuk, a lawmaker from the ruling party Servant of the People, as the new speaker of the parliament.

The nomination of Stefanchuk, who previously served as the first deputy speaker, was endorsed by 261 lawmakers in the 450-seat assembly, the parliament's press service said in a statement.

Stefanchuk replaced Dmytro Razumkov, who was dismissed by lawmakers on Thursday over his alleged failure to adhere to ruling party principles.

Kyiv, Oct 7 (AP-PTI) Ukrainian lawmakers voted Thursday to dismiss the parliamentary speaker, a move that comes as part of infighting in the ruling party.

Dmytro Razumkov was stripped of his duties by the Verkhovna Rada after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Servant of the People party initiated his dismissal.

KYIV, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has imposed sanctions on 95 Ukrainian and Russia citizens in connection with the holding of Russian parliamentary elections in annexed Crimea, Interfax Ukraine news agency reported on Tuesday.

The United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin, swept to victory in the September vote amid allegations of mass rigging by the opposition.

KYIV, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday that hundreds of people had been detained following a shooting incident in which an IT worker and a KGB officer died in Minsk, the state news agency Belta reported.

Belarusian authorities said KGB officers shot dead a 31-year-old man on Tuesday after he resisted law enforcement officers. Human rights group Viasna-96 said 84 people had been detained after the shooting incident. Reuters could not independently confirm the number of detainees.

KIEV, September 28. /TASS/: The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is inviting Hungary's ambassador to brief him on Kiev's stance regarding Budapest's deal with Russia's Gazprom, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on Tuesday.

"The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is inviting Hungary's ambassador in Kiev to brief him on our fundamental position," he said in a commentary to RBC-Ukraine, adding that it was a proportionate response to Budapest's steps.