In eight International Monetary Fund programs since independence in 1991, Ukraine has completed just one successfully. A year on from Russia's seizure of Crimea, it looks unlikely it will live up to the terms of its latest deal with the IMF also.

• March 19, 2015

European Union leaders look likely to keep economic sanctions on Russia in place until a Ukraine ceasefire deal is fully working, after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday it would be wrong to ease pressure on Moscow prematurely.

• March 19, 2015

Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman is preparing to sell North Sea gasfields at the heart of its fierce battle in Britain, bowing to government pressure and choosing to avoid a legal battle he previously threatened, the Financial Times reported.

• March 17, 2015

More than 45,000 Russian troops as well as war planes and submarines started military exercises across much of the country on Monday in one of the Kremlin's biggest shows of force since its ties with the West plunged to Cold War-lows.

• March 16, 2015

A Snapshot of Key Developments in the External Relations of the Russian Gas Sector
By Dr Jack Sharples, EGF Associate Researcher on the external dimensions of Russian gas and Lecturer in Energy Politics at the European University of St Petersburg

• Gazprom and the EU: European Commission could present the results of its antimonopoly investigation into Gazprom ‘in a matter of weeks’
• Turkish Stream: Gazprom CEO and Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources visit intended ‘Turkish Stream’ pipeline route; Turkish Botaş receives 10 percent discount on gas imports from Gazprom; Turkish Stream: Pro et Contra
• Ukraine: The ‘winter package’; A new dispute over gas supplies to the Donbass; Gazprom awaits advance payments for March gas supplies as time runs out on the ‘winter package’
• Belarus: Gazprom Transgaz Belarus named ‘top taxpayer’ in Belarus; Belarus settles payments for Russian gas in roubles; Gazprom to invest in Belarusian gas transmission and gas storage
• China: Gazprom seeks Asian investment and loans, receives top credit rating from Chinese agency; Gazprom promises exports to China still on schedule

• March 16, 2015

Germany and other countries want European Union leaders to endorse a declaration saying that EU sanctions on Russia will not be eased unless Moscow complies with a Ukraine ceasefire deal, two officials said on Saturday.

• March 14, 2015

European Union leaders are unlikely to tighten sanctions on Russia when they meet next week but will haggle over whether they need to act now to prolong economic sanctions on Russia expiring in July, diplomats said on Thursday.

• March 12, 2015

The United States announced $75 million in non-lethal aid for Ukraine on Wednesday and placed sanctions on a handful of Ukrainian separatists, a Russian bank and others after accusing Russian-backed rebels of breaking a European-brokered ceasefire.

• March 11, 2015