One day after being inaugurated as president of Ukraine, &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/world/20/92/370/14764_yushchenko.html ' target=_blank>Viktor Yushchenko said Monday that he believed he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had overcome the strains caused by the Kremlin's open backing of his electoral opponent. But Yushchenko, who came here on his first full day in office to meet with Putin, also signaled that he would follow through on pledges of radical changes designed to bring Ukraine closer to the West, a stance that has discomfited some in Russia's establishment.
Yushchenko also declined to endorse Putin's aim of establishing a &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/world/2003/08/28/49619.html ' target=_blank>Single Economic Space combining Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Yushchenko's allies regard this proposed entity as a Kremlin attempt to reassert Russia's sway over former Soviet countries.
At the &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/377/12362_phantoms.html ' target=_blank>Kremlin, Yushchenko was greeted warmly by Putin, who smiled and attempted to explain what some Yushchenko supporters charged was Russian interference in Ukraine's electoral process. In the run-up to voting, Putin traveled twice to Ukraine and praised Yushchenko's rival, Viktor Yanukovych, then the prime minister, whose campaign staff was stocked with Kremlin political consultants, publishes the Washington Post.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has nominated Yuliya Tymoshenko for the post of prime minister, a move being viewed as an affront to Russia, which has charged her with economic crimes. Until parliament can convene and confirm her in February, Tymoshenko will serve as acting prime minister, as the post has been vacant since former prime minister and presidential contender Viktor Yanukovych resigned in December. Two other close allies of Yushchenko also received appointments: Oleksander Zinchenko was named head of the secretariat, a new structure previously referred to as the president's administration, and Petro Poroshenko was appointed secretary of the National Security and Defense Council. Those posts do not require confirmation by parliament. Yushchenko made the appointments just before flying to Moscow for his first state visit as president of Ukraine. Russian President &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/main/18/88/351/12055_Putin.html ' target=_blank>Vladimir Putin had openly backed Yanukovych in the presidential campaign and is reportedly concerned that Yushchenko may prove too pro-West and not amenable to Russian pressure. On the eve of Yushchenko’s visit, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, held a rally outside the Ukrainian embassy in Moscow and declared, "Kiev is a Russian city and the Dnepr is a Russian river. There is no such thing as Ukraine, and a Russian governor should sit in Kiev, as well as in Minsk. Russia's borders in the west are Warsaw and Helsinki". Yushchenko’s decision to nominate his outspoken political ally, the 44-year-old Tymoshenko, as prime minister is a decision not likely to sit well with Moscow. Tymoshenko was crucial in leading the mass opposition protests, the “Orange Revolution”, that eventually led to Yushchenko’s victory in the disputed presidential elections in November and December. But she also has a history of earning Russia’s wrath. She is wanted by Russian prosecutors for allegedly bribing Russian defense officials, and Moscow has refused to revoke an international warrant for her arrest, reports ISN.
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