Arseniy Yatsenyuk

Ukraine's parliament elected Arseny Yatseniuk for a new term as prime minister at its opening session on Thursday.

President Petro Poroshenko and a newly-formed coalition in the assembly supported his appointment during the first session of the parliament, which was elected in October.

Ukraine would need at least six years to prepare itself for accession into the European Union and NATO, the country's President Petro Poroshenko declared on Monday.

He added membership would be put forward on a national referendum so that citizens could have the final say.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak has claimed 7500 members of the Russian armed forces are present in his country, "preventing" Kiev from stabilizing the situation in the Donbass.

On Saturday Poltorak issued a statement reading that "unfortunately the stabilization of the situation in the east of Ukraine does not depend only on us."

Ukraine has turned down Moscow's suggestion to talk directly to pro-Russian rebels to put an end to the conflict in the eastern part of the country.

NATO warned on Nov. 18 of a "very serious" build-up of Russian soldiers and weapons inside Ukraine and on its border as Germany's foreign minister urged Kyiv and Moscow to respect a tattered peace plan.
      
The West is keeping up pressure on Russia over Ukraine following a bad-tempered G20 summit in Australia at the weekend which Russian President Vladimir Putin left early.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will visit Ukraine on Nov. 10 to attend the third meeting of the Turkey-Ukraine Joint Strategic Planning Group Meeting.

New Ukranian authorities must now live up to promises

BELGRADE -- Ukrainian parliamentary elections are over, praise is coming from the West, but in this country torn in all areas there is very little reason for satisfaction.

President Traian Basescu hailed the result of the parliamentary elections carried out in Ukraine on Sunday, according to a Presidential Administration release.

"Pro-European parties" lead in Ukraine election

MOSCOW -- The Russian Foreign Ministry has announced that the holding parliamentary elections in Ukraine provided "an opportunity for peace in the east."

However, a statement noted that a large number of "nationalists" in parliament could undermine this process, RIA Novosti reported.

Exit polls from Sunday's parliamentary elections in Ukraine indicate a close race between PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk's People's Front party and President Petro Poroshenko's party.

With 20.1% of the votes counted, the People's Front had 21.66% of the vote, while the Petro Poroshenko Bloc had 21.65% of the vote, according to Ukraine's electoral commission, as cited by the RT network.