• Ukraine received 26.5 mln cubic meters of gas from Europe since the beginning of March

    During the first four days of March, Ukraine received 26.5 million cubic meters of natural gas from European Union countries, as announced by the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry.

    The Ministry specified that 17 million cubic metres was obtained from Slovakia, 7 million cubic meters from Hungary, and 2.5 million cubic meters from Poland.

    As reported, on March 2nd, the National Joint-Stock company, Naftogaz of Ukraine and the Polish company, PGNiG signed a contract for the urgent …

  • A new ceasefire comes into effect in the Donbas

    Another ceasefire has been declared in the Antiterrorist Operation (ATO) zone in the Donbas. An “absolute armistice” agreement was reached by the participants in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) in Minsk (Belarus) on February 28. On March 2, the TCG participants declared comprehensive and indefinite ceasefire in the ATO zone starting on midnight beginning March 5.

    The armistice bans any offensives and intelligence operations, firing in direction of or from all population centers, and …

  • Head of Ukraine's Naftogaz believes termination of Gazprom’s contract was Kremlin’s decision

    Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev expressed the opinion that Gazprom’s decision to terminate its contracts with the Ukrainian company originated in the Kremlin.

    “The decision to refuse to perform the contract was not made by Gazprom. I believe that it was made in the Kremlin,” Kobolyev said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

    According to Kobolyev, Russia reduced the pressure on the gas pipeline for transit to Europe by 20%. The pressure deficiency forced Ukraine to use electric power to …

  • Russia expresses doubt about Volker’s ability to 'contribute to resolving the crisis in the Donbas’ after his statements that LPR and DPR should be disbanded

    U.S. Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker’s call to disband the LPR and the DPR “calls into question” his ability to contribute to the resolution of the crisis in the Donbas, said the chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Konstantin Kosachev, reported RIA Novosti.

    “Volker's words, of course, do not fit into any framework of the existing Minsk agreements and, in my opinion, quite seriously call into question his readiness and ability to make a real contribution to …

  • US strategic drone carries out reconnaissance over Donbas

    On March 4, a US strategic RQ-4B unmanned aircraft made an almost ten-hour reconnaissance flight along the demarcation line in the Donbas, Interfax reported with reference to western aviation resources.

    The drone spent hours flying along the demarcation line between the Ukrainian military and the uncontrolled territories, at an altitude of 16,000 meters. Afterwards the drone returned to the airbase in Italy.

    On several occasions during the reconnaissance flight it flew within 40 km of Russia. …