Kiev - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Ukraine to keep to previously-agreed loan terms or risk a loss of badly-needed credits, a senior government spokesman said Monday.

"The fund is insisting all the money loaned us go to our banking system," said Oleskander Shapak, a top economic advisor for President Viktor Yushchenko.

Kiev - Twenty seamen held hostage for three months by Somali pirates arrived in Ukraine on Friday to be met by President Viktor Yushchenko.

The 17 Ukrainian, 2 Russian, and single Latvian seaman landed at Kiev's Borispyl airport after an eight-hour flight from Keyna.

Their ship, the MS Faina, docked in the Kenyan port Mombasa on Thursday. Pirates operating from Somalia's Puntland coastline had held the Faina's hostage since September 25.

Yushchenko and crew relatives met the seamen as they disembarked onto the runway. Some of the Ukrainians were wearing US-military issue fatigues.

Kiev  - Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko on Wednesday answered questions from a Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa reporter in an exclusive interview. Following are Q&A excerpts:

Q: Will there be a default in Ukraine?

A: The real question is, how strong will our budgetary policy be? How realistic will it be? How ambitious will it be? And critically, will the budget be balanced? How much will we be able to make a strong, measured policy? That will determine whether or not we can service our obligations.

Kiev - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Wednesday warned of a potential default and financial crash, if the country's government continues "irresponsible populist policies."

Yushchenko in an exclusive interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa blamed Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her cabinet for failing to respond to the impact of the international financial crisis, placing Ukraine's economy on a road to disaster.

Moscow/Kiev - Customs formalities at the Russo-Ukrainian border have delayed a camel shipment for days and killed one animal, news agencies reported Tuesday.

The lorry-load of 19 surviving Bactrian (two-hump) camels had been en route from Russia's Caspian Sea autonomous republic Kalmykia to a Bulgarian zoo, only to be halted by Ukrainian border guards near the Russian city Rostov.

One camel died waiting as Russian and Ukrainian border officials wrangled for close to two weeks over the animals' further transit.

Kiev, Moscow - Ukraine's cash-strapped government reached out to Russia and the International Monetary Fund in a hunt to keep its national budget afloat, officials said Monday.

A statement by Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko confirmed widely-reported rumours Kiev had requested a 5 billion dollar emergency loan from Russia, to keep the government solvent.

Tymoshenko's government in recent weeks has faced increasing difficulty in making ends meet due to a drastic drop in state revenues, and rising energy and social payment costs.