New Ukrainian President dissolves Parliament

New Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskiy. Photo: AP

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Mr. Zelenskiy said: "I dissolve the 8th Verkhovna Rada (parliament)." New President Zelenskiy took the oath of office before parliament and pledged to "protect the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine."

Mr. Zelenskiy also declared that his first task is to end the conflict in the East of the country. President Zelenskiy stated: "Our first task is to achieve a ceasefire in Donbass (Eastern Ukraine)."

President Zelenskiy also affirmed that he is ready to sacrifice his duties if this helps bring peace to the region. He emphasized: "We did not start this war, but we will be the ones to end this war and we are ready for dialogue. However, I believe that the first step to establish dialogue will be to return all detained Ukrainians."

Scene of the inauguration ceremony. Photo - Website of the President of Ukraine

The new Ukrainian president also called on the people of this country to unite. He said: "We are all Ukrainians. There is no high or low, right or wrong, we are all Ukrainians. From Uzhgorod to Luhansk, from Chernihiv to Simferopol, in Kharkiv, in Donetsk, in Dnipro and in Odessa - we are all Ukrainians, and we need to unite because only then will we be strong.

Mr. Zelensky, 41 years old, has no political experience but won an overwhelming victory over outgoing President Petro Poroshenko with 73% of the vote.

He affirmed that the most important thing now is to end the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, and pledged to "restart" the peace process with the parties according to the Minsk agreement. President Zelensky also announced that the upcoming government in Ukraine will adhere to the country's foreign policy roadmap in joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Lan Ha