Ukraine's richest man pleaded with the government on Monday not to bomb Donetsk, a city of a million people where hundreds of heavily armed pro-Russian rebels have vowed to make a stand after losing control of their bastion in the town of Slaviansk.

• July 7, 2014

Russia should boost its arms exports to help the industry upgrade and add more high-end jobs to the labor market, President Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying on Monday.

• July 7, 2014

In a country torn between Russia and western Europe, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's decision to resume an offensive against pro-Moscow rebels has carefully ignored both neighbors to show an ear acutely tuned to Ukrainian domestic politics.

• July 7, 2014

Ukraine has proposed a time and place for talks with pro-Russian separatist rebels on Saturday, intended to produce conditions for a durable ceasefire, and is waiting for the other side to respond, the president's website said.

• July 5, 2014

Ukrainian forces recaptured a flashpoint area of eastern Ukraine from pro-Russian rebels on Saturday and raised the country's blue and yellow flag again over what had been the separatist redoubt of Slaviansk.

• July 5, 2014

Russian President Vladimir Putin called for better relations with the United States on Friday in a congratulatory message to President Barack Obama marking U.S. Independence Day.

• July 4, 2014

The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine agreed in Berlin on Wednesday to hold three-way talks involving pro-Moscow rebels by Saturday to pave the way for a new ceasefire, despite continued fighting that Kiev says has now killed 200 of its troops.

• July 3, 2014

Ukrainian forces struck at pro-Russian separatist bases in eastern regions with air and artillery strikes on Tuesday after President Petro Poroshenko announced he would not renew a ceasefire but go on the offensive to rid Ukraine of "parasites".

• July 2, 2014