Ukraine's Premier Marks First 100 Days In Office

At a special session attended by cabinet members and coalition partners today, Yanukovych accused his predecessors, the victors of the 2004 Orange Revolution, of draining the economy.

Yanukovych said his government deserved credit for improving strained relations with Russia and for putting Ukraine on a pragmatic course toward Europe and NATO.

He also said the "personal ambitions and political extremism" of some lawmakers had prevented the setting up of a broad coalition.

Yanukovych leads an "anticrisis" coalition of his own Party of Regions, the Socialists, and the Communists. President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc recently pulled out of talks on a broad coalition and said it was going into opposition.

("Ukrayinska pravda," UNIAN, AP)