Gazprom (GAZP.MM), the world's top gas producer, could sign a contract to supply natural gas to China at the end of January, Chief Executive Alexei Miller was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency on Tuesday.

• December 17, 2013

Divisions emerged in the European Union's policy towards Ukraine on Monday as the Dutch foreign minister slapped down a senior EU official for announcing on Twitter that he had suspended work on a trade agreement with Kiev.

• December 16, 2013

A Kremlin aide made clear on Monday that Russia was ready to extend a credit to Ukraine to help Kiev cope with its economic problems and keep the country in Moscow's orbit.

• December 16, 2013

A breakthrough agreement to end the standoff over Iran's nuclear program appeared to face its first major difficulty on Friday with Russia warning that expanding a U.S. sanctions blacklist could seriously complicate the deal's implementation.

• December 14, 2013

Western powers should stop meddling in Ukraine's affairs and manipulating the "opinions of the people" about a trade pact with the European Union, China's official government newswire said on Friday.

• December 13, 2013

President Vladimir Putin conceded for the first time on Thursday that Russia's economic problems were home-grown and vowed not to abandon the spending promises he made on returning to the Kremlin last year.

• December 12, 2013

Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Arbuzov will meet a top European Union official in Brussels on Thursday to discuss a trade pact that Ukraine's president last month backed away from signing, provoking a political crisis.

• December 12, 2013

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a new attempt to woo Ukraine on Thursday after the European Union and United States stepped up efforts to pull Kiev out of its former Soviet master's orbit.

• December 12, 2013