Section: Voice of America (USA)
Displaced Ukrainians Face Harsh Winter
The U.N. refugee agency is warning of a growing displacement crisis in Ukraine as winter looms, and that urgent action is needed to help protect the hundreds of thousands of people already dislocated by fighting. The agency says scant preparations have been made to provide the warmth, shelter and clothing needed to get hundreds of thousands of...
Putin: Ukraine Not Interested in Dialogue
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he does not see a desire by the Ukrainian government to settle the conflict in eastern Ukraine through dialogue. He spoke Friday in the southern Russian city of Sochi following a phone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Merkel’s office said she stressed the need for full implementation of the...
EU Leaders Seek Climate Deal, Clash Over Costs
European leaders aimed to agree on a new decade of energy policy at an EU summit Thursday, but sharp differences over sharing the costs of cutting climate-warming gas emissions meant that securing a deal was likely to prove difficult. The 28 member states want to set the pace for a global pact to be drawn up in Paris next year with industrial...
Ukraine PM Warns Russia May Try to Disrupt Sunday Poll
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Thursday warned of possible attempts by Russia to disrupt Sunday’s parliamentary election in Ukraine and ordered a full security mobilization to prevent “terrorist acts” from being carried out. “It is clear that attempts to destabilize the situation will continue and be provoked by the Russian...
Ukrainians Vote Sunday in Key Election
Ukrainian voters go to the polls Sunday to elect a new parliament, the last political step in the revolution that started nearly a year ago. The vote is expected to move the country closer to badly-needed reforms, but won’t solve all of its problems. When Ukrainians took to the streets last winter for protests that led to the ouster of...
Poll: Ukraine Leader’s Bloc Holds Election Lead, Tymoshenko Threatened
President Petro Poroshenko’s bloc holds a big lead ahead of Ukraine’s election on Sunday while a rising populist party looks set to take second place, an opinion poll showed on Wednesday. A surge in support for the Radical Party of populist Oleh Lyashko, the champion of government troops and scourge of super-wealthy oligarchs,...
Russia Wants Ukraine Assurance of Gas Payment
Ukraine should be able to find ways of paying for Russian gas supplies within a week, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday, suggesting a standoff would end once Moscow received financial guarantees from Kyiv. The latest round of gas talks between Moscow and Kyiv ended late on Tuesday in Brussels with no agreement in a dispute...
Shelling Sends Donetsk Residents into Stalin-era Shelter
Fighting in eastern Ukraine has sent some residents fleeing to bomb shelters from previous wars. Despite a cease-fire reached in September, clashes between the government and pro-Russian separatists continue as the two sides fight for control of Donetsk airport. Some civilians are getting caught in the crossfire. Zlatica Hoke reports on how...
Europe Hoping for Russia-Ukraine Gas Deal Next Week
Russia and Ukraine failed to strike an interim gas deal in Brussels on Tuesday, with both sides holding out for guarantees on payment and price. European Union negotiators, however, are hoping for an agreement next week. After hours of talks, efforts to resolve a natural gas pricing dispute between the neighboring countries proved fruitless, but...
Ukraine to Try Fugitive Yanukovych in Absentia
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, in a move to head off discontent before an election, signed a law on Tuesday that will allow ousted leader Viktor Yanukovych to be tried by court in his absence for crimes carried out while he was in power. Poroshenko and his pro-Western government, who are seeking a strong mandate in a parliamentary election...
