Ukraine

Russia's economy shrank sharply in November and the ruble resumed its slide Dec. 29 as Western sanctions and a slump in oil prices combined to inflict the first contraction in GDP since the global financial crisis.

AFP’s Turkish photographer Bülent Kılıç has been picked by The Guardian newspaper’s picture desk as the contested agency photographer of the year.

"Western powers want to end confrontational approach"

ROME -- Western powers want to find common ground with Russia and end their confrontational approach over Ukraine, Federica Mogherini has told.

A missing AirAsia jet carrying 162 people could be at the bottom of the sea after it was presumed to have crashed off the Indonesian coast, an official said on Monday, as countries around Asia sent ships and planes to help in the search effort.
   

Conchita Wurst will be a presenter at the next edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.

The the Austrian drag queen - who won the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest with "Rise Like a Phoenix" - will interview contestants at the Green Room in Vienna on Saturday, May 23, 2015, according to reports of international news agencies, as cited by Sega daily.

Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels were on Dec. 27 set to complete a swap of hundreds of prisoners as part of a new push for peace that came despite Kiev's decision to cut off key transport links to breakaway Crimea.
 

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak has informed that the country is ready to supply up to one million tonnes of coal per month to Ukraine to help it solve its energy problems.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new military doctrine, naming NATO expansion among key external risks, the Kremlin said on Dec. 26, days after Ukraine made fresh steps to join the Atlantic military alliance.
   

Crimea, which broke away from Ukraine in March, has been cut off from the county's electricity supplies, officials say.

The peninsula will now have to use energy from local generators and two thermal power plants to fulfill its needs.

Crimean authorities have said they are still awaiting official explanation as to why supplies have bee disrupted.

There were big problems in almost all major trade markets in 2014, from Russia to Iraq, but 2015 will be much better for Turkey’s exports, said Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci on Dec. 26.