Kiev

UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has stated Thursday that sanctions against Russia can only be lifted in case the Minsk agreement is upheld.

He arrived in Kiev for an official visit and met with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, President Petro Poroshenko, and PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

Former President Ion Iliescu characterized, on Thursday, Russia's action in the eastern Ukraine as being "a bit adventurous", declaring that he was surprised by Moscow's action, but showed that Russians have a "certain historic debt" as the current territory of Ukraine hosted the first Russian state and this, probably, sparks "certain sensibilities".

Rescuers found 32 bodies of miners in the Zasyadko mine in eastern Ukraine a day after a blast ripped through the shaft, a rebel official said on March 5.
      

Olga Hoffman, a 23-year-old nursing assistant from Muenster, North Rhine-Westphalia beat other 23 contestants from 5,115 entrants to clinch the coveted Miss Germany title. The 1.77 meter tall beauty is from the Ukraine and told the press that she constantly thinks of her country and wants peace in the Ukraine. Her parents left Kiev in 2001.

At least 32 miners were killed in a blast at a coal mine in a rebel-held area of east Ukraine on March 4, the president of Ukraine's parliament said.
      
"A terrible tragedy took place this morning at Zasyadko (mine). There are victims, currently numbering 32," Volodymyr Groysman told parliament in Kiev, calling on lawmakers to observe a minute of silence.
      

The members of the Supreme Council for Country's Defence (CSAT) appreciated in their Tuesday meeting that Romania's consistent support to Ukraine marked an unprecedented opening of authorities in Kiev to cooperation with Romania, the Presidential Administration stated.

Photo credit: (c) Alex MICSIK / AGERPRES PHOTO

OSCE media rep "surprised by Russian criticism"

MOSCOW -- OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic says she is surprised by Russian FM Sergei Lavrov's doubts about the organization's impartiality.

Lavrov questions impartiality of OSCE regarding media

GENEVA -- The international community should pay special attention to media freedom in Ukraine, while the OSCE has a biased attitude about it, Sergei Lavrov has said.

The EU said it hoped for a "positive outcome" in talks in Brussels on March 2 between the Russian and Ukrainian energy ministers aimed at resolving a gas supply dispute threatening deliveries to Europe.

Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom threatened last week to cut deliveries to Ukraine and divert supplies instead to eastern parts of the country controlled by pro-Kremlin rebels.

President Klaus Iohannis on Saturday said that Romania's role in the context of the tensions at the eastern border of the European Union (EU) is that of being "a stability and wise political thinking landmark in the area."

Photo credit: (c) Alex MICSIK / AGERPRES PHOTO