Ukraine: No New Government Before Thursday
The Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday delayed the formation of a new
government, reflecting political tensions and economic challenges
following the ouster of the Russia-backed president.
Parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchinov, who was named Ukraine's interim
leader after President Viktor Yanukovych fled the capital, said that a
new government should be in place by Thursday, instead of Tuesday, as he
had earlier indicated.
Turchinov is now nominally in charge of this strategic country of 46
million whose ailing economy faces the risk of default and whose
loyalties are sharply torn between Europe and longtime ruler Russia.
Law enforcement agencies have issued an arrest warrant for Yanukovych
over the killing of 82 people, mainly protesters — the bloodiest
violence in Ukraine's post-Soviet history — that precipitated him
fleeing the capital on Friday after signing a deal with opposition
leaders to end months of violent clashes between protesters and police.
For months, thousands of people have been protesting against
Yanukovych's decision to ditch an agreement for closer ties with the
European Union and turn to Russia instead.
The parliament sacked some of Yanukovych's lieutenants and named their
replacement, but it has yet to appoint the new premier and fill all
remaining government posts. Yanukovych's whereabouts are unknown. He was
last reportedly seen in the Crimea, a pro-Russia area.
The European Union's top foreign policy official urged Ukraine's new
government to work out a reform program so that the West could consider
financial aid to the country's battered economy.
Catherine Ashton spoke on Tuesday after meeting with the leaders of
Ukraine's interim authorities formed after President Viktor Yanukvoych
fled the capital.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk, a top figure in the protests, suggested that Yanukvoych should be tried in the Hague, Netherlands.
Protesters, meanwhile, removed a Soviet star from the top of the
Ukrainian parliament building, the Verkhovna Rada. "The star on top of
the Verkhovna Rada is no longer there," said Oleh Tyahnybok, head of the
nationalist Svoboda party, which has been a strong force in the protest
movement.
Meanwhile, a campaign for May 25 presidential elections was launched
Tuesday, with Yanukovych's archrival former Prime Minister Yulia
Tymoshenko widely seen as a top contender for the post. She was freed
from prison on Saturday after spending 2 ½ years there. Her lawyer said,
however, that she hasn't yet declared whether to run.
Turchinov moved quickly to open a dialogue with the West, saying at a
meeting with Ashton on Monday that the course toward closer integration
with Europe and financial assistance from the EU were "key factors of
stable and democratic development of Ukraine."
Turchinov told Ashton on Monday that Ukraine and the EU should
immediately revisit the closer ties that Yanukovych abandoned in
November in favor of a $15 billion bailout loan from Russia that set off
a wave of protests. Within weeks, the protests expanded to include
outrage over corruption and human rights abuses, leading to calls for
Yanukovych's resignation.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has strongly condemned the new
authorities, saying Monday they came to power as a result of an "armed
mutiny" and their legitimacy is causing "big doubts." ''If you consider
Kalashnikov-toting people in black masks who are roaming Kiev to be the
government, then it will be hard for us to work with that government,"
Medvedev said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry criticized the West for turning a blind eye
to what Moscow described as the opposition reneging on an agreement
signed Friday to form a unity government and aiming to "suppress dissent
in various regions of Ukraine with dictatorial and, sometimes, even
terrorist methods."
Although Russia has questioned the interim authorities' legitimacy,
European Commission spokesman Olivier Bailly referred to Turchinov as
the "interim president."
NATO's supreme allied commander in Europe, Gen. Philip Breedlove,
discussed Ukraine with Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff
of Russia's armed forces, on Monday and they agreed to keep each other
informed about developments in the country.
Tensions, meanwhile, have been mounting in Crimea in southern Ukraine.
Russia maintains a large naval base in Sevastopol that has strained
relations between the countries for two decades. Pro-Russian protesters
gathered in front of city hall in the port of Sevastopol on Monday
chanting "Russia! Russia!"
The head of the city administration in Sevastopol quit Monday amid the
turmoil, and protesters replaced a Ukrainian flag near the city hall
building with a Russian flag.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's position on the turmoil in Ukraine
will be crucial to the future of Crimea and Ukraine. In recent days,
Putin has spoken to President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela
Merkel and other leaders to discuss the Ukrainian crisis.
On Tuesday, Putin summoned top security officials to discuss the
situation in Ukraine, but no details of the meeting were released by the
Kremlin.
The current protest movement in Ukraine has been in large part a fight for the country's economic future.
Ukraine has a large potential consumer market, an educated workforce, a
significant industrial base and good natural resources, in particular
rich farmland. Yet its economy is in tatters due to corruption, bad
government and short-sighted reliance on cheap gas from Russia.
The public deficit is rising and the economy may be back in recession.
The government burned through about a tenth of its $17.8 billion in
foreign reserves last month to support the currency, which has fallen 6
percent since the protests began.
Ukraine's acting finance minister said the country needs $35 billion
(25.5 billion euros) to finance government needs this year and next and
expressed hope for rapid Western help.
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