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Ukraine's economy is growing faster than Russia's
According to the Russian Slon.ru news portal, the Ukrainian economy has been showing stronger growth than that of Russia, according to the official statistics of the two countries. In the fourth quarter of 2015, Ukraine’s GDP did not fall as steeply as Russia’s, and, in the first quarter of 2016, even rose slightly in contrast to the fall of the Russian index. This year, the Russian economy will shrink by 0.2%, the Ministry of Economic Development believes. The World Bank is more pessimistic …
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Herashchenko appeals to Russia to provide information on children illegally taken from Ukraine
The representative of Ukraine in the humanitarian sub-group in the Minsk negotiations and Vice-speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Iryna Herashchenko, said that Ukraine once again appealed to Russia to provide information on children illegally taken from the territory of Ukraine.
"We also expressed deep concern that international humanitarian organizations, including UNICEF, were not allowed access to children and special children's institutions in the occupied territories. We are ready to evacuate …
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Kiev will not cooperate with self-proclaimed republics on the payment of pensions
The Minister for Social Policy of Ukraine, Andriy Reva, commented on the statement of Denis Pushilin, the a representative of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, concerning the opening of pension payment branches in the territories that are not under Ukraine’s control.
“Where are the guarantees that the citizens will receive these pensions? I don’t believe Pushilin or any of these bandits,” Reva stated on Ukrainian Hromadske.TV. The Minister added that Ukraine does not recognize the …
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Ukrainian presidential advisor expects an escalation of the conflict in the Donbas
Director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, Volodymyr Horbulin, told Ukrainian ZN.UA news portal that the Donbas is at risk of a sudden outbreak of large-scale hostilities. As Advisor to the President, he maintains that the current popular perception of calm presents a significant danger in itself.“In fact, the only thing we have observed is a paradigm shift in this long-term conflict,” Horbulin said. “Moreover, this raises a worrying feeling that this is the calm before the storm, …
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Poroshenko announces coordinated effort with NATO regarding 'Normandy Fortmat'
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said further actions will be outlined using the Normandy format at the NATO summit in Warsaw next week, Radio Svoboda reported.
According to Poroshenko, the documents detailing the cooperation between Ukraine and NATO should be properly prepared. He added that the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pavlo Klimkin, and the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration, Konstantin Eliseev, had recently visited Europe to discuss the preparations of a …