Yushchenko works with the Rada

Today the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Arseniy Yatsenyuk arrives in Moscow. During the one-day fact-finding visit, taking place against the backdrop of the crisis in Ukraine, he will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov. On the eve of his arrival, Mr. Yatsenyuk published an income declaration in the government press, according to which he earns more than $144,000 a year.

In Kyiv, the government and parliament continue to refuse to recognize as legal the decree of President Viktor Yushchenko on the dissolution of the Rada until the decision of the Constitutional Court (CC). In the eastern regions of the country, 248 local councils at all levels adopted an appeal to the president demanding that this decree be canceled or suspended. The head of the cabinet of ministers, Viktor Yanukovych, recently called for the dissolution of the Constitutional Court if he is unable to judge the conflicting parties.

At the same time, President Yushchenko continues to veto laws and return them to the Rada for revision, despite the fact that he considers the powers of deputies invalid. Thus, he returned to parliament the law on temporary investigative commissions, a number of provisions of which “do not correspond to the constitution.” Roman Zvarich, the president's representative in parliament, was tasked with presenting the president's amendments. The situation in Ukraine remains uncertain.

Svetlana STEPANENKO, Kyiv