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3% of GDP must be spent for the country’s defenses; 48.8% of Ukrainians believe that Russia is responsible for the Russian-Ukrainian conflict; 10,000 new patrol police officers are to start their work by the end of 2015.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko turned 50. U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt publically subjected the work of the General Prosecutor’s Office to severe criticism. Volodymyr Hroisman called for increasing salaries of public officials and MPs. The local elections campaign provides more surprises.

Ukraine and NATO brought their positions unprecedentedly closer together, stressing their partnership. Representatives of the militants in Minsk peace talks decided to use the tactics of ultimatums. The international community is awaiting the political debate at the UN General Assembly.

On September 20, the Crimean Tatars started a campaign blocking the food trucks heading to Crimea. UNIAN asked the experts whether the activists will be able to achieve their goals and what the prospects are for the blockade of the Russia-annexed the peninsula.

This week marks the deadline for Moscow’s explanations regarding two complaints about the actions of the Russian Federation in Crimea and Donbas filed by Ukraine in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Meanwhile, the inter-state lawsuits in the ECHR are being gradually supplemented by civil suits.

UNIAN sits with Yehor Bozhok, acting chief of Ukraine’s Mission to NATO, to talk about the deeper cooperation between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the new standards for the Ukrainian Army, and the first steps on the path of the country’s military reforms.

Crimean Tatars chose three routes for the economic blockade of the administrative border with the Russian-occupied Crimea, 45% of Ukrainians are willing to vote in local elections, 382 individuals and 105 legal entities fell under Ukrainian sanctions against Russia.

Ukraine imposed sanctions against Russian businesses and individuals, as well as some foreigners, actively involved in the annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea and in destabilization in Donbas. The Russian president is trying to sell to the world community the recipe of Syrian conflict settlement, for his own benefit. Gazprom and Naftogaz unexpectedly brought their negotiating positions closer together ahead of the heating season.

Serhiy Pinkas, deputy chief of State-owned Ukroboronprom, which unites major defense industry enterprises, has told about supplies of military equipment to the ATO zone, integration of Ukrainian arms industry with NATO, and connection between Porsche, Mercedes, Audi, and Ivano-Frankivsk-based Karpaty factory.

In September, Naftogaz plans to sign an agreement with Russia’s Gazprom on gas supplies in winter period. Mykhailo Honchar, president of Strategy XXI Center told in an interview with UNIAN about the possible pitfalls in the negotiations, the economically justified price of gas, and also elaborated on how to act in case of implementation of the Russian North Stream-2 project.

A new gas field was discovered in Ukraine’s Zakarpattia region, 48.4% of Ukrainians believe that the government has not reached any progress in the implementation of reforms, 1,700 Russian citizens fell under Ukrainian sanctions since the beginning of Crimea’s annexation and the armed conflict in Donbas.

Ukrainian authorities are yet to find an effective recipe for the Donbas crisis settlement in difficult conditions. The representatives of the president's party started the talk about the need to reduce the number of ministers and parliamentary committees. The local election campaign which has already started will increasingly influence the situation across the country.

With the cessation of active hostilities in Donbas, diplomatic efforts of various centers of influence to resolve the conflict have stepped up noticeably. Russian justice system decided to strike individual Ukrainian officials. Agreement on the construction of the Nord Stream-2 pipeline became a serious lesson not only for Ukraine, but also for the Central Europe.

Overall adverse foreign policy situation in Russia ahead of the UN General Assembly forces the Kremlin to look for ways to re-gain a foothold on the world political scene. But will the international community believe the aggressor who has been using double standards?

The head of the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation - EUROCONTROL - Frank Brenner has told in his interview with UNIAN when the world's airlines return to Ukraine, whether they reopen the Crimea airspace, and when Kyiv and Brussels are to sign the Open Sky Agreement.

The struggle for constitutional amendments in the first reading has resulted in casualties. The first faction has left the parliamentary coalition, and this has affected the work of the "European Ukraine" majority. Viktor Shokin pledged the MPs who broke the law will face trouble, while Davit Sakvarelidze started selection of personnel for the prosecutor's office.

Andrej Plenkoviс, Croatian Member of the European Parliament, co-chairman of the EU-Ukraine Association Committee, tells in an exclusive interview with UNIAN of the new political season and EU-Ukraine relations.

Three National Guard soldiers were killed in clashes outside the Verkhovna Rada on August 31, 265 deputies approved in the first reading the Constitutional amendments regarding decentralization, Russia assessed “damage” from accepting refugees from Ukraine at $60 million.

Not only has Ukraine approved constitutional amendments in the first reading, but it has also passed a new military doctrine, defining Russia as military adversary. Vladimir Putin does not like how the Ukrainian government amends the Constitution without the consent of the "representatives of Donetsk and Luhansk." The problem of African refugees is reaching a pan-European scale, and Ukraine also has to think of its move on this issue.

A September 1 announcement of the Radical Party on quitting Parliament Coalition could have an explosive effect if not for the real explosion near Rada a day before.