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BRUSSELS - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has insisted the $40 billion South Stream natural gas pipeline can still go ahead and accused Russia of holding EU-member Bulgaria to ransom when it said it had abandoned the project.

MOSCOW - Here are quotes from Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual state of the union speech to members of parliament and other top officials in the Kremlin on Thursday.

MOSCOW - Money collected in one of Russia's two "rainy day" funds should be used to support domestic banks, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, as he set out efforts to help Moscow counteract Western sanctions and overcome its economic woes.

BASEL, Switzerland - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday Russia had pitched itself into isolation through its own actions in Ukraine and could rebuild international credibility only by ending its support for pro-Russian separatists.

LONDON - Andriy left his home town in western Ukraine earlier this year on a journey that brought him through the hands of shady traders in Poland to one of the world's booming markets for illegal immigrants - London.

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russia would not choose the path of isolation and would continue to cooperate with the United States and Europe, despite the Ukraine crisis.

MOSCOW - The Russian rouble fell sharply after Russian President Vladimir Putin began making a state-of-the-nation address, in which he repeated his harsh criticism of the West and blamed it for the crisis in Ukraine.

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday Chinese President Xi Jinping had consolidated power faster than any Chinese leader in decades, raising human rights concerns and worrying China's neighbors.

LONDON - Andriy left his home town in western Ukraine earlier this year on a journey that brought him through the hands of shady traders in Poland to one of the world's booming markets for illegal immigrants - London.

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Ukraine | Reuters.com

More than half of Ukraine's primary energy supply comes from uranium and coal resources, according to the EIA, but supply lines for the latter have been interrupted by fighting in the eastern part of the country.

The major mining region of Donbass has seen heavy fighting between troops loyal to the government in Kiev and pro-Russian separatists. The nation now faces challenges getting its coal supplies to electricity producers following the destruction of rail lines by the separatists, CNBC previously reported.

Read MoreUkraine may have an energy problem besides nat gas

The incident at Zaporizhzhya fortunately did not interrupt supply or involve nuclear assets, but it underscored fragility in the country, said Robert Bensh, managing partner of Pelicourt, a private equity firm with energy interests in Ukraine.

"Ukraine has been unable to source coal and to increase or even maintain gas production. While it has been successful in obtaining reverse supplies of gas from Slovakia, nuclear is critical to continued electricity supply," Bensh said.

The event also reminded the world of Ukraine's history with nuclear power, he said. An explosion at northern Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 spread radioactivity over Ukraine and Europe, killing at least 31 people and causing serious long-term effects.

The Zaporizhzhya accident was caused by a short circuit in the power transmission system, rather than the reactor itself, Ukrainian Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn said on Wednesday. As such, there was no threat to the surrounding area, he said. French nuclear safety institute IRSN confirmed it had not detected any increased radioactivity in the area.

Read More Russian oil oligarch: '$60 and below is possible'

The perception that another part of Ukraine's energy portfolio is at risk has the potential to strain relations between the government in Kiev and the Ukrainian people, who have endured rising fuel costs.

"Anything that adds to the difficulties that Ukraine has in providing energy for its population is a problem for Kiev. With Ukraine's harsh winters, it can be a humanitarian in addition to a political problem," said Ian Brzezinski, former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO policy.

Read the rest here:
Ukraine's energy (in)security

More than half of Ukraine's primary energy supply comes from uranium and coal resources, according to the EIA, but supply lines for the latter have been interrupted by fighting in the eastern part of the country.

The major mining region of Donbass has seen heavy fighting between troops loyal to the government in Kiev and pro-Russian separatists. The nation now faces challenges getting its coal supplies to electricity producers following the destruction of rail lines by the separatists, CNBC previously reported.

Read MoreUkraine may have an energy problem besides nat gas

The incident at Zaporizhzhya fortunately did not interrupt supply or involve nuclear assets, but it underscored fragility in the country, said Robert Bensh, managing partner of Pelicourt, a private equity firm with energy interests in Ukraine.

"Ukraine has been unable to source coal and to increase or even maintain gas production. While it has been successful in obtaining reverse supplies of gas from Slovakia, nuclear is critical to continued electricity supply," Bensh said.

The event also reminded the world of Ukraine's history with nuclear power, he said. An explosion at northern Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 spread radioactivity over Ukraine and Europe, killing at least 31 people and causing serious long-term effects.

The Zaporizhzhya accident was caused by a short circuit in the power transmission system, rather than the reactor itself, Ukrainian Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn said on Wednesday. As such, there was no threat to the surrounding area, he said. French nuclear safety institute IRSN confirmed it had not detected any increased radioactivity in the area.

Read More Russian oil oligarch: '$60 and below is possible'

The perception that another part of Ukraine's energy portfolio is at risk has the potential to strain relations between the government in Kiev and the Ukrainian people, who have endured rising fuel costs.

"Anything that adds to the difficulties that Ukraine has in providing energy for its population is a problem for Kiev. With Ukraine's harsh winters, it can be a humanitarian in addition to a political problem," said Ian Brzezinski, former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO policy.

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Nuclear failure was the last thing Ukraine needed

President Vladimir Putin attacked the U.S. and Europe for backing Ukraine and said that Crimea, which the Kremlin annexed from the former Soviet republic in March, has sacred meaning as Russias Jerusalem.

As Ukrainian officials planned to pause shelling on Dec. 9, Putin said he isnt surprised by the countrys separatist conflict, given what he termed the coup and violent takeover of power in Kiev in February. He said the U.S. and European Union, who have imposed sanctions that are hobbling Russias economy over its stance on Ukraine, would have penalized his country even if the conflict hadnt broken out.

Crimea has invaluable civilizational and even sacred meaning for Russia, like the Temple Mount in Jerusalem for the followers of Islam and Judaism, Putin said in his annual address to parliament and other top officials in Moscow today. And this is how we will always consider it.

The U.S. and the European Union blame Putin for stoking the conflict between Ukrainian forces and eastern pro-Russian separatists thats killed more than 4,300 people and displaced 500,000 this year. In the worst standoff between Russia and its former Cold War foes since the fall of the Iron Curtain, Putins government has also vowed to increase bomber missions to as far as the Gulf of Mexico, prompting NATO countries to reassess their military readiness.

Pedestrians pass a mural showing a map of the Crimean peninsula filled with the flag of the Russian Federation, in support of the Russian annexation, in Moscow, Russia. Close

Pedestrians pass a mural showing a map of the Crimean peninsula filled with the flag of... Read More

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Pedestrians pass a mural showing a map of the Crimean peninsula filled with the flag of the Russian Federation, in support of the Russian annexation, in Moscow, Russia.

Putin brushed off the sanctions, which have limited access to capital markets for some Russian banks and companies and blacklisted officials involved in the conflict. His government denies any involvement in Ukraine, and he said the sanctions were instead aimed at keeping Russia down.

They are not just a knee-jerk reaction on behalf of the United States or its allies to our position regarding the events and the coup in Ukraine, or even the so-called Crimean Spring, Putin said. If none of that had ever happened, they would have come up with some other excuse to try to contain Russias growing capabilities.

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Ukraine May Hold New Talks With Rebels as EU, NATO Press Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin attacked the U.S. and Europe for backing Ukraine and likened Crimea, which his government annexed in March, to Russias Jerusalem.

Putin said he wasnt surprised by the separatist conflict after what he termed the coup and violent takeover of power in Kiev in February. The U.S. and European Union, which imposed sanctions that are hobbling Russias economy over its stance on Ukraine, would have penalized his country even if the conflict hadnt broken out, he said.

Crimea has invaluable civilizational and even sacred meaning for Russia, like the Temple Mount in Jerusalem for the followers of Islam and Judaism, Putin said in his annual address to parliament and other top officials in Moscow yesterday. And this is how we will always consider it.

The U.S. and the European Union blame Putin for stoking the conflict, which has touched off the worst standoff between Russia and its former Cold War foes since the fall of the Iron Curtain. Putins government has also vowed to increase bomber missions to as far as the Gulf of Mexico, prompting NATO countries to reassess their military readiness.

Russia has been hit by falling oil prices that have dropped by more than 35 percent since June. Russia depends on oil and gas revenue for about half of its federal budget. The ruble has lost about a third of its value since Putin started his incursion into Crimea. It fell 2.5 percent to 54.4995 per dollar at 7:53 p.m. in Moscow yesterday.

Putin brushed off the sanctions, which have limited access to capital markets for some Russian banks and companies and blacklisted officials involved in the conflict. His government denies any involvement in fighting that broke out after protests toppled former pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and he fled to Russia in February.

If none of that had ever happened, they would have come up with some other excuse to try to contain Russias growing capabilities, Putin said.

Putin likened his global opponents to Adolf Hitler, who tried to push Russia back behind the Urals and warned everyone should remember how that ended.

U.S. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Putin had presented a revisionist narrative on the crisis in Ukraine that was deeply troubling but utterly unconvincing.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Russia is forcing its own citizens to pay a steep economic and human price, including the price of hundreds of Russian soldiers who fight and die in a country where they had and have no right to be.

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Putin Assails Opponents on Ukraine, Likens Crimea to Jerusalem