Ukraine's Radical Party Quits Government In Protest Over Decentralization Bill
The leader of Ukraine's Radical Party, Oleh Lyashko, has announced his party is quitting the coalition government.
Lyashko said on September 1 that the right-wing party opposes a constitutional amendment that aims to give more autonomy to areas controlled by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian nationalists strongly oppose the measure, fearing it would threaten the country's sovereignty.
Lyashko called for a national referendum on decentralization to be held in October along with local elections.
The deputy head of President Petro Poroshenko's bloc in the parliament, Ihor Kononenko, said the Radical Party's exit will not affect the coalition's work.
The Radical Party holds 21 votes in the parliamentary coalition of 302 seats.
The bill, which was presented by President Petro Poroshenko and is part of Kyiv’s obligations under the February Minsk peace accords, was tentatively approved by parliament on August 31.
Based on reporting by UNIAN and Interfax
Russia Expels Ukrainian Diplomat
Russia's Foreign Ministry says Moscow has expelled an Ukrainian diplomat in retaliation for Kyiv's expulsion of a Russian diplomat.
Few other details were immediately available from the Russian news reports on September 1.
Ties between Moscow and Kyiv hit rock bottom after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula in March 2014.
Unrest then started in Ukraine's Russian-speaking east. Kyiv and the West accuse Moscow of driving a separatist rebellion there. Moscow denies that.
Based on reporting by TASS, Interfax, and Reuters
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko pays tribute to the guardsmen who died after yesterday's violence in Kyiv: