"Independent Ukraine means independent foreign policy," Viktor Yanukovich, who was nominated yesterday for the post of prime minister, said at the All-Ukraine deputies' forum in the capital, Kiev. "We must return to a calm, reasonable and self-assured tone in the Ukrainian foreign policy, especially in our relations with Russia."
The Party of Regions, which won the largest number of votes in a March election, but not enough to form a government on its own, teamed up with the Communist Party and the Socialists to form a new parliamentary coalition following the breakup of an alliance led by the pro-presidential Our Ukraine party.
"Ukraine has never been so close to the edge of an economic abyss as it is today, and we are facing a national catastrophe," Yanukovich said, adding that his party was urgently developing an action plan to lead the country out of the current crisis.
