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KIEV (Reuters) - Western-leaning Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko proposed opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich as prime minister on Thursday in a deal that is likely to hand over huge powers to his pro-Moscow rival. Yushchenko said he decided to propose Yanukovich -- the man he defeated in the 2004 "Orange Revolution" -- after extracting written guarantees that he would not try to overturn market reforms and pro-Western policies. But there were no details on what concessions were made by Yanukovich, who favours closer ties with Moscow. Parliament was expected to vote him in as prime minister later on Thursday. The deal...

One of the most surprising aspects of the Viktor Yushchenko administration has been its unwillingness, or disinterest, in public relations and public opinion, whether in Ukraine or abroad. The Yushchenko administration and Our Ukraine ignored public opinion in Ukraine among Orange Revolution supporters, and that of the USA and the West in general, which called for a revived Orange coalition following the March elections. A coalition was only put together on the eve of the June deadline but it immediately collapsed and led to the current political crisis. In ignoring domestic and foreign public opinion and advice, the Yushchenko administration...

KIEV, July 7 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's Socialist Party blames President Viktor Yushchenko for a virtual collapse of a coalition majority formed in the country's parliament in June, a party member said Friday. Ivan Boky said, "The president ruined the coalition by nominating Petro Poroshenko for the post of [Supreme Rada] speaker." The coalition of Western-leaning forces broke up when the Party of Regions, holding 186 seats in the Rada, and the Socialist and Communist parties with 33 and 21 seats respectively joined forces late Thursday to elect Socialist leader Oleksandr Moroz as speaker. The three parties are currently holding...

Pro-Russian parties form new governing coalition in Ukraine by Yana Dlugy KIEV (AFP) - Ukraine's pro-Russian parties formed a new governing coalition in a stunning move that promises to slow the pro-Western course taken by the ex-Soviet nation after the "orange revolution." In front of reporters in parliament, the Regions Party and the Communists signed a coalition agreement with the Socialists, who in a surprise move had defected from the pro-Western "orange" camp the previous day. The coalition said it was open to other parties. "We're not closing the doors," said Viktor Yanukovych, the leader of Regions. "They are open...

Yanukovich Triples Demand Regions Party of Viktor Yanukovich delivered yesterday another ultimatum to the Orange Coalition, increasing the demands three fold. The Orange rebuffed and pledged not to compromise. The raging clashes may prevent submitting the PM candidature to Supreme Rada today. Yesterday’s round table of the opposition and the Orange was expected to end the long-drawn crisis. “We will find the way to unblock parliament in the nearest an hour and a half,” Roman Zavarych, one of the main negotiators of pro-president’s Our Ukraine was very optimistic before the talks. But his hopes didn’t materialize. The key oppositionist, Viktor...

United Ukraine parties to form new gov't By NATASHA LISOVA, Associated Press Writer Thu Jun 22, 8:04 AM ET KIEV, Ukraine - Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko announced in parliament Thursday that she and other allies from Ukraine's Orange Revolution had reunited into as a majority coalition and would start forming a government. "Today we start our struggle so that our country can be democratic," Tymoshenko said. "We were given a second chance, and ... if we don't use this second chance, then the Ukrainian people will say it serves us right." The coalition of pro-Western reformers who aim to...

Monument to organizer of Jewish pogroms to be erected in Kiev A monument to Symon Petlyura will be erected in Kiev downtown. As Kommersant-Ukraine newspaper informs, the monument will be unveiled in the framework of events to honor the 80th anniversary of Petlyura’s death. The monument will be erected by December 1, 2006 at the intersection of Volodimerska Street and Taras Shevchenko Avenue in Kiev downtown. On May 16, 2005, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko signed a decree ‘On Perpetuation of the Memory of Ukrainian People’s Republic and Western-Ukrainian People’s Republic Outstanding Figures’, in which Symon Petlyura was named among outstanding...

Analysis: Ukraine, Poland Seek Reconciliation Over Grisly History By Jan Maksymiuk PRAGUE, May 12, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- When Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and his Polish counterpart Lech Kaczynski travel together to the Polish village of Pawlokoma on May 13, they will be taking another step toward coming to terms with their nations' common historical legacy. One of the darker stains of that legacy is represented by the village of Pawlokoma, where ethnic Ukrainian inhabitants were killed by a Polish military group in 1945. The Ukrainian and Polish presidents will attempt to come to terms with that tragedy by unveiling a...

Yushchenko, Cheney meet in Vilnius KYIV. May 4 (Interfax) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and U.S. Vice-President Richard Cheney have held negotiations in Vilnius, focusing on the political situation in Ukraine, the presidential press service said on Thursday. Ukraine will have a new government in June, Yushchenko said. The United States supports the democratic choice of Ukraine and will continue to assist Ukraine in its reforms and Euro-Atlantic integration, Cheney said. Yushchenko assured Cheney that the Ukrainian Euro-Atlantic policy is inflexible. Possible cooperation in nuclear power engineering and energy saving was also on the agenda. Russia is a strategic partner...

An "orange coalition" is still the most likely outcome of a Ukrainian election won by the revolution's opponent, says Taras Kuzio. ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY: By Taras Kuzio Open Democracy, London, UK, Tuesday, March 28, 2006 Ukraine held its fourth parliamentary elections on 26 March in an atmosphere totally different to earlier elections. President Viktor Yushchenko can be credited with ensuring that it has been Ukraine's first free and fair poll since the country became an independent state in January 1992. The democratic breakthrough initiated by the orange revolution of November 2004-January 2005 has been consolidated. This is in stark contrast...

Mar 28 2006 4:02PM Pro-Yanukovych bloc running first in Crimea SYMFEROPIL. March 28 (Interfax) - Although no official reports on the vote-count have arrived at Crimea's elections commission from the districts, unofficial figures, based on the counting of nearly 31% of the ballots, suggest that the coalition For Yanukovych, organized by the Crimean branches of the Party of Regions and the Russian Bloc parties, is far ahead in the race to the Crimean parliament, with 34.98% of the votes won. The Popular Rukh's Crimean organization, whose electorate roll includes members of the Crimean People's Majlis, is second with 8.75% of...

Russia-backed opposition leads in Ukraine - exit polls Sun Mar 26, 2006 7:46 PM GMT By Yuri Kulikov KIEV (Reuters) - The party of Russia-backed Viktor Yanukovich, loser in a presidential poll in Ukraine's 2004 "Orange Revolution", held a clear lead in Sunday's parliamentary election, exits polls showed. But an even bigger blow for the pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko came from the bloc of his estranged "Orange Revolution" ally Yulia Tymoshenko, who flew past him into second place leaving his Our Ukraine party badly trailing. The projected outcome, that could mark a step away from the pro-West ideals espoused by...

Victor Yanukovich wants to have TV duel with the President of Ukraine. He stated it at the meeting with the workers of Makeyevka Metallurgical Plant. “I’d like to hold TV debates with Victor Yushchenko. It is my dream,” said Yanukovich. He also mentioned he would rather to have it (TV duel) with PM of Ukraine Yuri Yekhanurov but added that he wants no one else except these two persons. Concluding the discussion, Yanukovich asked the journalist to deliver his invitation to the President of Ukraine.

Mr Kinakh thus commented on his own statements, which he made during his latest visit to Poland about Ukraine contemplating options for leasing its underground gas depots. Mr Kinakh refuted reports alleging that Ukrainian underground gas holders were long ago leased to a foreign company. Ukraine's underground gasholders are and will remain Ukraine's property, the NSDC Secretary reassured. Mr Kinakh also confirmed Ukraine's readiness to cooperate with relevant nations and organisations, which are interested in storaging their national resources in Ukrainian gas holders "on transparent market terms."

Rent for Russian navy's use of Ukrainian port unchanged - Yushchenko 21:36 | 15/ 02/ 2006 KIEV, February 15 (RIA Novosti) - The Ukrainian president dismissed reports Wednesday that Ukraine intended to raise the rent for Russian naval bases in Ukraine's Crimea. Viktor Yushchenko said the possibility of raising the rent for the Russian Black Sea Fleet's use of port facilities in the Crimea had not been proposed at bilateral talks on the issue held in Kiev Tuesday. Yushchenko said the talks had focused on "bringing the real state of things in line with the [1997] agreement," and clarifying mechanisms...

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, seeking to overturn curbs on his powers, called on Thursday for a new constitution to be drawn up and put to the people. The pro-Western president has been vying for authority with parliament after ignoring a January 10 vote sacking the government. He says constitutional amendments in force since the New Year handing more powers to the assembly are a recipe for deadlock. Yushchenko's allies trail in opinion polls in the run-up to a March 26 parliamentary election in the ex-Soviet country. The vote could produce a chamber keen to use new powers...

This fall, Turkmenistan is preparing to raise the price of its exported natural gas by one and a half times - to $100 per thousand cubic meters. This was declared on Friday by the president of Turkmenistan, Sapamurat Niyazov, according to a report by Reuters. "Europe has problems now. The prices of the energy sources are rising. We will also gradually raise our prices," said Niyazov during a news program on the government television station. "We have been selling for 44 dollars, now we are selling for 65, but from the ninth or tenth month of this year will we...

08 February 2006, 18:00 Yushchenko slams reprinting of Muhammad cartoons in Ukraine Kiev, February 8, Interfax - President Viktor Yushchenko has condemned a Ukrainian newspaper for reprinting some of the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that have sparked protests by Muslims across the world. "We regard any publication and any material or action that could insult people's national or religious beliefs as inappropriate and the Ukrainian president condemns any manifestation of intolerance and xenophobia," presidential spokeswoman Iryna Herashchenko told a news conference in Kiev on Wednesday after the paper Syohodni reprinted the cartoons. Yushchenko was doing his best to achieve...

Head of Kiev Center for Political and Conflict Studies Mikhail Pogrebinsky thinks the political crisis in Ukraine could not have been avoided: it was stipulated right at the moment Viktor Yushchenko came to power. As a REGNUM correspondent reports, Pogrebinsky shared his opinion at a round-table discussion on the subject “January 2006: from the collapse of power to counterrevolution, or Political crisis in terms of changing form of governance.” As the analyst says, “the thing is that Yushchenko’s team is incapable of thinking and living rationally. Right now we are witness to the ruling coalition making choice to ‘Tarasyuk’s principles,’...

The Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis considers that retardation of the investigation of journalist’s Georgiy Gongadze murder is the biggest disappointment in Ukraine for the past year. “I consider, this is the biggest disappointment for Ukrainians, as well as for international community. We hoped the investigation would have come to the end earlier,” said Mr. Davis. January 25, 2005 speaking in Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko pledged to do his best for detecting Gongadze case during a half-year. However, it failed.