A new Verkhovna Rada will meet for the first tme today:
Ukraine's newly elected parliament is due to convene for its first session on November 27.
Pro-Western parties swept to victory in the October 26 elections, led by President Petro Poroshenko's bloc and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's People's Front.
Poroshenko called the early poll in a bid to set Ukraine on a new path eight months after pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted following opposition protests.
Five pro-Western parties which have agreed to form a ruling coalition control a total of 288 seats in the 421-seat parliament.
However, talks amongst the coalition partners on forming a new Cabinet have bogged down.
On November 25, Poroshenko vowed to take the first steps this week towards forming a new government.
The United States and other Western government have criticized Kyiv for failing to put together a cabinet following the early elections and putting on hold needed reforms linked to Western aid.
Analysts say the delay is due to rivalry between Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk over control of key portfolios.
Meanwhile, NATO's top commander says Russian forces are still operating in eastern Ukraine, providing the backbone of separatist rebels fighting the Kyiv government.
U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove was speaking on November 26 during a visit to Kyiv as head of U.S. forces in Europe.
Breedlove said Russia's "militarization" of the Crimean Peninsula it annexed from Ukraine in March meant Moscow could exert influence over almost the entire Black Sea region.
The United States also continued to watch for indications Russia might move "nuclear capabilities" onto the peninsula in line with a Russian defense ministry announcement last March, he said.
Russia denies sending troops or equipment to the rebels but accuses Kyiv of using indiscriminate force against civilians in the two eastern territories of Donetsk and Luhansk. (Reuters and AFP)
Here is today's map of the military situation in eastern Ukraine, according to Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council:
Putin called Poroshenko:
The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed "bilateral relations and the situation in Ukraine's southeast" with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on the telephone on November 26 evening.
The Kremlin said in a brief statement on November 27 that the call was on the initiative of Ukraine. It gave no further details.
Violence in east Ukraine is continuing despite a September ceasefire agreement between Kiev and pro-Russian separatists.
Ukraine and Western countries accuse Russia of backing the rebels with troops and equipment.
Moscow denies the accusation. (Interfax, Reuters)