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Russia has intensified its efforts to force Ukraine to peace in Donbas on Moscow’s terms. The official Kyiv should take a closer look at the actions of new president of Moldova Igor Dodon. French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen makes statements that seem alarming for Ukraine and also threaten the integrity and future prospects of the European Union.

Ukraine in 2016 has seen so many political events, which in normal life would be enough for several years. Moreover, we shouldn’t forget that Ukraine is going through the crisis, the biggest one in its recent history, so the country’s achievements and failures are measured in strategic terms.

In an interview with UNIAN Verkhovna Rada Speaker Andriy Parubiy has explained why the Parliament failed to support the introduction of a visa regime with Russia, when the Rada would reform itself and whether we should expect snap elections in 2017.

Zero cubic meters of gas was purchased by Ukraine from Russia, 35 people have been convicted in cases of crimes against Maidan, 36,000 tonnes is the total weight of Chornobyl NPP’s new safe confinement, 3.8 million people in Ukraine are in need of humanitarian assistance due to the Donbas conflict.

The Donbas conflict remains an unresolved problem, and tactical successes are not enough to ensure the positive dynamics. The strategy of Crimea and Donbas return has not been revealed to the public and expert community. European vector of Ukraine’s foreign policy received a positive evaluation only for the work in the PACE. The victory of Donald Trump stunned Ukrainian political elite, and it seems it has not yet recovered fully.

Ukraine has good chances to celebrate the New Year with the budget 2017, approved despite procedural imperfection. PrivatBank was transferred to state ownership, accompanied by an exchange of views on the subject between ex-management and the NBU governor. Another escalation in Donbas does not allow any optimism regarding the prospects for the development of the situation in the east of Ukraine.

One diplomat, Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov, was shot dead in Ankara; 100% of shares of Privatbank was transferred to state ownership; 274 MPs supported Ukraine’s state budget for 2017.

Vladimir Putin is all into demonstrating how eagerly he has been waiting for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to take up post. U.S. and EU ambassadors to Ukraine gave the country’s diplomats a bit of an important advice on their professional holiday. The Donbas crisis is far from settlement.

Russian lawyer Ivan Pavlov, specializing in "spy cases" the Kremlin has been fabricating, sat down with UNIAN to explain, why the number of citizens of both Ukraine and Russia, persecuted by Putin’s regime for "extremism", "espionage" and "treason" will further be growing.

Ukraine has for several years been struggling to liberate its prisoners from Russian prisons and dark basements in "DPR" and "LPR". The scandal with Nadia Savchenko, who tried to become another "negotiator" in this process, has highlighted the problem. But, unfortunately, it does not solve it.

Nadia Savchenko has turned from a member of Batkivshchyna faction into a loner MP. PrivatBank has been transferred to state ownership. NABU went public in filing a suspicion against CEC chief Mykhailo Okhendovsky. Oleksandr Turchynov reminded of himself both to his friends and enemies.

For two days in a row, Polish capital Warsaw was seeing protests against the moves of parliament majority, 27 Ukrainian troops defected to the militants after time spent in captivity, $214 million is needed in 2017 to provide humanitarian aid to the people living in eastern Ukraine.

Last week’s kaleidoscope of news from Brussels has gotten millions of Ukrainians confused. The Aleppo tragedy further highlighted the impotence of the West against the assertive Russia, whatever Barack Obama says about his warnings to Vladimir Putin. Gazprom has launched a verbal cannonade ahead of a new gas war, in which both the EU and Ukraine may be on the same side of the barricades.

The Ukrainians have spent this whole year expecting the long-awaited final move by the European Union officials and finally be granted a visa-free travel across the Schengen Zone. Now the year is coming to an end, but the introduction of a visa-free regime for Ukraine keeps being delayed, while the Ukrainian citizens' frustration with the European promises seems to have reached its critical point.

Ukrainian lawmaker Vadym Novinskiy is in the focus of Ukrainian law enforcers. Rada Speaker Andriy Parubiy hopes for the timely adoption of the Ukrainian budget 2017, which will allow the deputies to enjoy a stress-free holiday period. Nadia Savchenko continues to “impress” the public.

After nine days without food and water, one of the two children left unattended by own mother died in a Kyiv apartment; 13 regions of Ukraine held their first local elections of territorial communities; 3.8 million people in Ukraine are in need of humanitarian aid as a result of the Donbas conflict.

The European Union agreed on the conditions of a visa waiver suspension mechanism and thus  brought closer the possibility for Ukraine and Georgia to achieve the long-awaited visa free regime across the Schengen zone. Several European Prime Ministers held their master classes of big politics - of course, each in their own way. The annual OSCE Ministerial saw no sensational outcome.

Two votes over the minimum threshold in the Verkhovna Rada have allowed the deputies strip Opposition Bloc’s MP Vadym Novinsky of his parliamentary immunity. But it would be much better if legislators did not delay with restricting immunity for all deputies.

UNIAN sat down with a famous Russian businessman Dmitry Potapenko, one of the few entrepreneurs in Russia who publicly criticizes the Kremlin’s economic policy. He became an Internet star, openly talking about the Russian government’s pressure on private business, objecting to Putin and proving harm of the food embargo, arguing about the "inept foreign policy decisions" and lower living standards in Russia. Potapenko has drawn our attention to the fact that the methods of public administration are still similar in modern Russia and Ukraine.

After some R&R in Russia, Viktor Yanukovych rushed into Ukraine's information space with a well-calculated effect. Fugitive MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko is trying to play a role Kuchma-era Major Melnychenko. Ukraine has overcome Russian threats, having successfully carried out its military drills. Friendly fire police casualties in a peaceful Kyiv region are quickly gaining political overtones. Yevgeny Magda