Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has not abandoned his intention to grant Russian the official status of a second national language in Ukraine, the deputy chief of the presidential administration said on Wednesday.

Abkhazian President Sergei Bagapsh has appointed a special representative to international talks on security in the Caucasus, the presidential office said on Wednesday.

Vyacheslav Chirikbu will head an Abkhazian delegation at talks in Geneva due to start later this month.

The format of the discussions on security and stability in the South Caucasus was established after the five-day war between Georgia and Russia in August 2008.

Delegations from Abkhazia, Georgia, Russia, the United States and South Ossetia participate in the Geneva meetings on an equal footing.

Russia recognized Abkhazia and another breakaway Georgian province, South Ossetia, in late August 2008.

The only other countries to have recognized their independence are Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru, the world's smallest island nation.

RIA Novosti

A draft agreement on U.S. poultry supplies to Russia may be ready by the end of the week, Russia's chief sanitary official said on Wednesday.

The upper house of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council, approved on Wednesday a government bill to extend a ban on human cloning.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will visit Ukraine in May, the Kremlin press service said on Wednesday.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is to visit Brazil as part of his Latin American tour, national media said on Tuesday.