Ukraine crisis: President calls snap vote amid fighting Ukraine’s president has dissolved parliament and called snap elections, as government forces continue to fight pro-Russian rebel forces in the east. Petro Poroshenko said many current MPs were backers of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych and that the majority of Ukrainians wanted a new parliament. Elections would be held on 26 October, he said in a TV address. Separately, Ukraine’s military says it clashed with rebel armoured vehicles that entered the country from Russia. More than 2,000 people have died in months of fighting between Ukrainian forces and separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The two regions declared independence from Kiev, following Russia’s annexation of the southern Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March. In the address late on Monday, Mr Poroshenko said he acted fully in accordance with the Ukrainian constitution, which states that new elections must be held if a ruling coalition in parliament is not formed within 30 days. The president stressed that the “current composition of the parliament has been the mainstay of (President) Yanukovych”, who was forced to flee Ukraine amid mass street protests in February. “Elections is the best way of cleaning things up,” he said. Earlier on Monday, Ukraine’s military said a column of 10 tanks and two armoured personnel carriers had crossed from Russia and been heading towards the south-eastern port of Mariupol. It said Ukrainian troops destroyed two tanks, blocking the area. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had not heard the reports about the alleged incursion, but complained of regular “disinformation about our ‘incursions’”. Heavy fighting on Monday was also reported in and around Donetsk – the biggest rebel-held city. Ukraine accuses Russia of arming the rebels in the east and sending its troops into the country – a charge the Kremlin denies. On Tuesday, Mr Poroshenko is expected to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at talks in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. ift.tt/1qkFkAp ift.tt/1ls1hrf [[Boost your social presence with NAIRALIKES nairalikes ]] #nigeria x #nairalikes #vanguardng
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 01:15:09 +0000
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