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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s open letter and Aug. 11 video blog attacking Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko turned out to be a PR windfall for Ukraine, judging from international reaction...Many outside of Russia – and some within -- sided with Ukraine and Yushchenko. "The language [of Medvedev] was reminiscent of [former Soviet leader] Leonid Brezhnev in its detachment from reality,” wrote Anders Aslund, author of “How Ukraine Became A Market Economy and Democracy,” in an Aug. 17 opinion piece published by the Financial Times.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has strongly criticized Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and his government, accusing them of everything from supporting Georgia in last year's war to suppressing the use of the Russian language in Ukraine. He also announced he is postponing sending a new ambassador to the former Soviet republic. In a "video blog" posted today on the Kremlin's website, the Russian president said he had outlined his views in an open letter to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. Dmitri Medvedev said bilateral relations between Russia and Ukraine have hit an "unprecedentedly low" level and that tensions between the two countries...

Benign skin growths that erupted on the face of Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko helped save his life after he was poisoned with dioxin five years ago. That's the verdict of doctors who have treated and monitored Yushchenko since an unknown assassin made the attempt on his life by lacing his soup with dioxin during a dinner in Kiev on 5 September 2004. It now turns out that the lumps that grew on his face and body as a result probably saved his life by isolating the dioxin away from his vital, internal organs. They also helped to detoxify the poison,...

The President had yet another busy and no doubt worrying day first of all making a statement on the financial rescue legislation early morning on the South Lawn of the White House. He also met with at the White House President Valdas Adamkus of Lithuania and Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko. After his meeting with Yushchenko the President spoke about the failed bailout On a somewhat lighter and more pleasant note the President presented the 2007 National Medal of Technology and Innovation Medals. Pray for President Bush -- Day 2938 - McCain/Palin--Day 32 Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke to students of...

Ukraine's pro-Western government has collapsed after the Russian invasion of Georgia triggered a political struggle between President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko over whether the country's destiny lies with the West or Moscow. Arseniy Yatsenyuk, speaker of the Ukraine's parliament, told MPs on Tuesday that the governing coalition linked to the popular "Orange Revolution" of 2004 was over. "I officially declare the coalition of democratic forces in Ukraine's parliament dissolved," he said. "This has been long expected, but for me it is extremely sad." Ukraine's MPs now have 30 days to try and form a new ruling government...

Excerpt - The speaker of the Ukrainian parliament says the country's pro-Western governing coalition has collapsed. Parliament now has 30 days either to form a new coalition or to call new elections. The alliance has fallen apart amid infighting between its leaders President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. ~ snip ~

President & Mrs. Bush are spending the weekend at Camp David. The President called the governors of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia this morning to discuss preparations for Tropical Storm/Hurricane Hanna. On the second day of his visit to the Ukraine Vice President Cheney met with President Viktor Yushchenko and other officials. (Transcript) President Yushchenko: Your Excellency, Mr. Vice President, and your colleagues, this is a great honor for me on behalf of Ukraine to welcome the U.S. Vice President Richard Cheney for the visit to Ukraine … Vice President Cheney: I appreciate your kind words and hospitality. And...

Excerpt - KIEV, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said on Sunday joining the NATO alliance was vital to securing the country's defence. Marking 17 years of Ukrainian independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Yushchenko said Ukraine must also increase its own defences -- a clear swipe at Russia which unnerved former Soviet republics when it sent troops into Georgia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia. In a congratulatory message to mark the day, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called on Ukraine not to spoil their historically close ties. ~ snip ~

KYIV. Aug 15 (Interfax) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has invited the Russian leadership to urgently start negotiating an agreement on the possibility of using the Russian Black Sea Fleet for military purposes. "I have sent an urgent proposal to the Russian president through official channels on starting a negotiating process and drafting a relevant agreement that would settle our relations in case of the emergence of military actions, similar to those we witnessed in early August, and the ways of protecting Ukraine's national interests in this case," Yushchenko said in a commentary regarding Kyiv's position on the situation...

Ukraine threatened to blockade the Russian Black Sea Fleet yesterday in an act of solidarity with Georgia that risked escalating the conflict. After flying to Tbilisi to assure Georgians of his country’s support, President Yushchenko signed an order imposing tough restrictions on the Russian fleet, which is based in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol. Mr Yushchenko’s decree instructs Russia to give 72 hours’ notice of any movement of ships, aircraft or personnel in Ukraine. The Ukrainian authorities were given the power to alter those plans. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry had already warned Russia that it will bar ships from returning...

Ukraine’s president and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which comes under his jurisdiction, have reacted sharply to the Georgian-Russian conflict. President Viktor Yushchenko has close personal relations with President Mikhail Saakashvili with whom he is direct contact on a daily basis (www.president.gov.ua, August 9). The Yushchenko-Saakashvili relationship is a political alliance based on the shared aims of the 2003 Rose and 2004 Orange revolutions, a common desire to join NATO and support for an alternative to Russia energy sources through the GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova) regional group. Ukraine and Georgia have also supported pro-U.S. positions in the...

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has said officials in Russia were hindering an investigation to determine who was behind his poisoning during the 2004 presidential election campaign. The president told The Times Russian laboratories were refusing to provide samples of the dioxin poison, even though he had discussed the matter with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. He also said Russia was refusing to extradite three suspects. "Three laboratories in the world were producing dioxin of this formula. It is very easy to determine the origin of the substance; there is nothing magical about it," he told the Times. "Two laboratories provided samples...

[Dec, 2004] A criminal investigation into the poisoning of the Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko began yesterday after tests showed that his blood contained 1,000 times the normal level of dioxin. The poisoning caused the severe chloracne which led to the disfigurement of his face. The results of the investigation are likely to prove politically explosive amid feverish speculation that Mr Yushchenko was the victim of a Cold War-style poisoning by members of the country's intelligence services.

Sen. John McCain has asserted his opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin a number of times, going so far as joining with Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., in 2005 to introduce legislation calling on President Bush to suspend Russian's membership in the Group of Eight. That opposition, however, is being called into question by links that have been established in various reports between McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, and Ukrainian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, who is suspected of having ties to organized Russian crime. Davis even arranged for McCain to meet Deripaska at a time when Davis' lobbying firm was working under...

TORONTO -- This week, Ukraine's President, Viktor Yushchenko, will travel to Israel -- a nation for whom the term "genocide" has become an indelible part of its collective memory -- where he is expected to ask Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to endorse a UN resolution put forth by Ukraine recognizing the Soviet-era forced famine of 1932-33 in Ukraine as an act of genocide. For Prime Minister Olmert and members of the Knesset, it will not be an easy decision to make, since Jewish leaders have long maintained that the Holocaust was unique and should not be equated with other genocides.

KIEV (AFP) - Pro-Western parties were poised for dramatic victory Tuesday in Ukraine's cliffhanger parliamentary election, although their Moscow-backed rival remained defiant and each side accused the other of fraud.With barely more than one percent of ballots left to count in Sunday's snap election, the Orange Revolution alliance of President Viktor Yushchenko and firebrand reformist Yulia Tymoshenko held an almost unassailable lead.Their arch rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, had not yet conceded defeat.But his Regions Party, while the single biggest in parliament with more than 34 percent of the vote, lagged well behind the combined tally of about 45 percent...

KIEV (AFP) - Pro-Western parties in Ukraine narrowly defeated their Moscow-backed rivals in snap parliamentary elections Sunday, exit polls indicated, but the apparent victory was unlikely to end months of political unrest. Four exit polls released after voting in the former Soviet republic gave President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party and the allied Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc a razor-thin lead over parties backing Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. The result meant that Tymoshenko, a fiery reformist politician, could seize the premiership from her bitter adversary Yanukovych, who is seen as being close to Ukraine's former ruler Russia. Tymoshenko, who helped Yushchenko to...

via translation - Ukraine: thousands of soldiers move towards Kiev KIEV - Several thousands of soldiers belonging to the troops of the ministry for the Interior, carried out by their commander, honest to president Viktor Iouchtchenko, move towards Kiev, in spite of the order of their minister, faithful to the Ukrainian government, affirmed Saturday the ministry. “On May 26 (...) of the units of the interior, strong troops several thousands of people, took the road towards Kiev”, affirmed the ministry all while being said “worried” by this situation. “The order on their displacement was given personally by the commander of...

KIEV (Reuters) - President Viktor Yushchenko said on Friday he was taking control of interior ministry troops loyal to Ukraine's prime minister, a direct challenge to the rival he has confronted for months. Yushchenko issued his decree hours after riot police controlled by the interior minister took over a key building in Kiev following scuffles. Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich's supporters planned a rally in the city centre later in the day. The decree concerns troops largely responsible for maintaining public order and not the army, which is controlled by one of pro-western Yushchenko's few allies in the cabinet. Tensions boiled...

KIEV (Reuters) - Riot police pushed aside protesters massed outside a Ukrainian courthouse on Wednesday, allowing judges inside to assess whether embattled President Viktor Yushchenko acted legally in ordering a snap election. About 4,000 protesters backing Yushchenko's call for an early election -- but opposing the Constitutional Court's examination of the presidential decree -- had been waving flags outside the building from early morning. The sitting got under way after about an hour's delay, with 15 of the 18 judges present. Yushchenko, long at odds with Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich over Ukraine's future direction, has dissolved the chamber and ordered...

KIEV, April 3 (Itar-Tass) - Ukraine is getting immersed in a deep political crisis with unpredictable consequences. The parliamentary majority has given a hostile reception to the presidential decree on the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) and does not intend to obey it. The confrontation between political forces will inevitably spill out into to the streets. The opposition leaders have already called for a new Maidan (permanent rally) in downtown Kiev. Yuri Lutsenko, leader of the People's Self-Defence movement, has stated that a platform for speakers will be set up in Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosty) on Tuesday and rallies...

Ukrainian President Victor Yuschenko has dissolved the parliament which was controlled by the opposing party’s coalition. The Party of Regions, is controlled by Yuschenko’s arch nemesis Viktor Yanukovych, and is a pro-Russian party, made up largely of ethnic Russians. Yanukovych successfully blunted the momentum of the Orange revolution, which brought Victor Yuschenko to power following rigged elections. This pro-Russian parliament has been slowly usurping Presidential authority, and President Yuschenko has essentially become a lame duck. The UK Guardian recently reported the assassination of the Russian oligarch Maksim Kurochkin, in Ukraine. UK Guardian (Apr. 1st, 2007):a sniper shot the Russian businessman...

Ukraine is facing its second general election in less than two years after President Viktor Yushchenko last night dissolved parliament, citing "unconstitutional" behaviour by the Moscow-friendly government of Viktor Yanukovich, prime minister. In a move aimed at ending months of political gridlock caused by a stand-off with his long-standing rival Mr Yanukovich, the president said in a television address that it was his "duty" to call fresh elections, accusing the government of the "the politics of intrigue and fraud". The poll will take place on May 27, he said. Mr Yushchenko urged Ukrainians to remain calm saying "the situation is...

· 'Lame duck' Ukraine president plans to appeal · Former orange revolution ally votes with opposition The man who led Ukraine's orange revolution two years ago has been transformed into a lame-duck president following a humiliating parliamentary vote that effectively strips him of all powers. Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine's opposition leader turned president, no longer has the power to veto the choice of prime minister or foreign minister. Lawyers for President Yushchenko said yesterday that they were preparing to appeal, describing the move as "unconstitutional". However, Mr Yushchenko appears to be the big loser in Ukraine's latest constitutional battle, which has...

Political crisis deepens in Ukraine Representatives of the western orientated Orange revolution ‘Our Ukraine’ bloc drop out of negotiations with pro-Russian politicians. Report by Halyna Pastushuk, Kyiv 07.10.06 This week the electorate of Our Ukraine Bloc, at least those who have not got disappointed in their orange idols, have sighed with relief. Our Ukraine is not longer going to be in coalition with those against whom it was fighting during the legendary Orange revolution. Roman Bezsmetny said that Our Ukraine Bloc is ready to start negotiations with the representatives of oppositional powers regarding common plans for future actions. Although, I...

MOSCOW – President Viktor Yushchenko reached across the Orange Revolution's barricades Thursday and nominated his arch rival to lead Ukraine's government out of nearly five months of political paralysis. The deal, reached as a constitutional deadline that expired Wednesday night, creates a "grand coalition" between the pro-Western Mr. Yushchenko's Our Ukraine movement and Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions, which favors closer ties with Russia. Ukraine's parliament, the Supreme Rada, is expected to elect Mr. Yanukovych as prime minister on Friday. Critics suggest the accord has betrayed the Orange Revolution and played into Moscow's hands. Some, including Yushchenko's former ally Yulia...

Ukraine’s Supreme Rada is to endorse Viktor Yanukovich as prime minister on Friday. President Viktor Yushchenko has given in, agreeing to nominate his long-standing rival for prime minister. Yanukovich’s comeback in office means not only the defeat of the Orange. Ukraine is also in for a new redistribution of property that the White and Blue will certainly launch.

After four months in deep freeze, Ukraine has a new government. But some fear the new government will deal a fatal blow to the spirit of the Orange Revolution. KYIV, August 4, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Lawmakers in the Ukrainian parliament have finally put an end to Ukraine's four-month political impasse, voting to approve Viktor Yanukovych as prime minister. Speaking just before the vote, Yanukovych -- who has experienced a remarkable political comeback since his defeat to pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko in the 2004 Orange Revolution -- vowed to work to unite a Ukraine riven by discord: "I am confident that this...

PM Yanukovych: what now for Ukraine and Poland? Russian backed Victor Yanukovych, who lost the 2004 Orange Revolution election in Ukraine, has been nominated as Prime Minister. How does the situation in Ukraine affect Polish Ukrainian relations? Report by Agnieszka Bielawska 04.08.06 Yanukovych will share power with president Viktor Yushchenko who had no other choice but appoint him as prime minister in view of the looming threat of the dissolution of Parliament and new elections. The Yanukovych block which holds a majority in Parliament is known for its pro Russian sentiments and reluctance towards western integration. Poland watched the events...

KIEV, Ukraine — After four months of wrangling, Ukraine's pro-Western president faced a midnight deadline Wednesday to decide whether to accept his chief political rival as the country's next prime minister. President Viktor Yushchenko can also dissolve parliament and call new elections, but doing so would prolong the political turmoil that has seized this ex-Soviet republic since March's indecisive parliamentary election. A return to power for Viktor Yanukovych, a former prime minister, would complete a startling comeback. His attempt to win the presidency in the 2004 election was marred by fraud and triggered the mass protests known as the Orange...

KIEV, August 3 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has submitted the candidature of Viktor Yanukovych for the post of prime minister to parliament, the leader of the Socialist faction said Thursday. "The Rada [parliament] secretariat has received Viktor Yanukovych's candidacy," Vasily Tsushko said, adding that the president had made the right choice. Yushchenko took a significant step toward resolving the country's protracted political crisis early Thursday by backing his long-time rival and the parliamentary majority's choice for the prime minister's job. "I decided to nominate Yanukovych as prime minister," Yushchenko said after consultations with Yanukovych and parliamentary speaker...

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,’...