To ease crisis, Ukraine PM quits
30 Jan 2014 4:44 AM IST
Azarov said he had taken a ‘personal decision’ to resign to keep Ukraine together as a state, as parliament met in emergency session to vote on reforms and amendments backed by President Viktor Yanukovych.
Parliament overwhelmingly voted to scrap anti-protest laws that sparked the current crisis when the ruling party pushed them through the Verkhovna Rada on 16 January.
The dramatic twists in Ukraine’s two-month crisis came as Russian President Vladimir Putin prepared to sit down with EU chiefs at a summit in Brussels expected to be dominated by the turmoil.
The European Union and United States cranked up pressure on Yanukovych to impose serious reforms to end a standoff that has turned parts of Kiev into a war zone patrolled by masked protesters and that has left three activists dead.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton brought forward a visit to Kiev by several days while US Vice President Joe Biden urged Yanukovych to work with the opposition on ‘immediate measures’ to de-escalate the crisis.
Parliament overwhelmingly voted to scrap anti-protest laws that sparked the current crisis when the ruling party pushed them through the Verkhovna Rada on 16 January.
The dramatic twists in Ukraine’s two-month crisis came as Russian President Vladimir Putin prepared to sit down with EU chiefs at a summit in Brussels expected to be dominated by the turmoil.
The European Union and United States cranked up pressure on Yanukovych to impose serious reforms to end a standoff that has turned parts of Kiev into a war zone patrolled by masked protesters and that has left three activists dead.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton brought forward a visit to Kiev by several days while US Vice President Joe Biden urged Yanukovych to work with the opposition on ‘immediate measures’ to de-escalate the crisis.
Next Story
