The majority of Western comments on territorial claims arising from the breakup of the USSR focus on Russia's demands against its neighbors. The best known, such as the Crimea and frozen conflicts in the Caucasus, are frequently mentioned in the Western media. Added to this are Russian comments that repeatedly have focused on the alleged "artificiality" of post-Soviet borders. Ukraine in particular is pointed out by Russian...

The shut-off of all natural gas going to Ukraine on 7 January 2009 has once again highlighted the fragility of Russia's relations with its neighbours. While the gas dispute is partly a financial one, as Moscow and Kiev are unable to agree on a price for the gas Russia transits to its western neighbour, the August 2008 Russo-Georgian conflict has demonstrated that Moscow remains willing and able to use military force to achieve foreign policy goals in its near abroad...

The European Union and Ukraine agreed on Tuesday to seek closer ties in the energy sector to try to avoid future disruption of Russian gas supplies through the country after this month's crisis. Visiting President Viktor Yushchenko said that accords signed with Moscow by his domestic political rival, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko were "not easy" but gave no indication at a news conference that he would challenge them...

The interim leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, seen as a modernizer who could seek a historic reconciliation with the Vatican and more autonomy from the state, was overwhelmingly elected patriarch Tuesday. Metropolitan Kirill received 508 of the 700 votes cast during an all-day church congress in Moscow's ornate Christ the Savior Cathedral...

The League of Ukrainian Canadians (LUC) is inviting all those who are interested in LUC's activities and projects to become members of LUC, all those who would like to take part in organizing and carrying out LUC's events, conferences and concerts to become members of LUC, and all those who are interested in volunteering their time, in particular university students, to become members of LUC...

Boris Novozhilov, the director-general of the once-famed Soviet pioneer camp Artek, has declared a hunger strike and appealed to the Ukrainian government for urgent action to save the vast resort from a complete collapse. Many staff members believe that Artek has been brought to the brink of bankruptcy intentionally. Since its inception in June 1925, a vacation at Artek was considered an honorable award for Soviet children. In its heyday the year-round Crimean camp hosted 27,000 children annually...

A $2.3 billion natural gas dispute sparked on Wednesday between the government and a gas trader, two days after a 10-year gas deal had been reached between Ukraine and Russia. At least 10 billion cubic meters of gas, apparently owned by RosUkrEnergo and kept in Ukrainian underground gas tanks, is now owned by the state gas company Naftogaz Ukrayiny, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said. She said the gas was “purchased” at low price as part of the deal with Russia to ensure safe operation of the Ukrainian gas pipeline system moving gas to markets in the European Union...

This war should never have taken place. The conflict had little to do with “commercial disagreements” between Gazprom and Naftohaz Ukrainy—these were resolved by the “Memorandum of Agreement” signed on October 2, 2008, by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko. For unknown reasons this agreement was never allowed to enter into force until January 19, when Putin and Tymoshenko essentially agreed to abide once again by its provisions...

The bitter energy dispute between Ukraine and Russia has been resolved in a comprehensive agreement that Kiev and Moscow signed yesterday -- though there have been several false starts over the past three weeks. But if this latest pact holds, then by all accounts it is Russia that blinked first. While Ukraine's leaders will not crow about their success, Ukraine has pretty much gotten what it wanted: below-market rates for its own 2009 gas purchases. Ukraine's leaders also made it abundantly clear that they were not some unimportant factor in Russia-European gas trade. They showed that their gas pipeline system is critical to the continental gas transit system...