KIEV, Ukraine
The European Union's (EU) foreign affairs chief will visit Ukraine on Monday to discuss the troubled country's economy, two days after the Ukrainian president was ousted.
According to a statement from the EU released Sunday, Catherine Ashton will meet key leaders in Ukraine's capital Kiev to discuss how the EU can stabilize the economy and solve problems created by the country's political crisis.
In a statement released Saturday, Ashton urged all parties to protect the unity of the country while continuing dialogue.
Meanwhile, foreign ministers from seven EU countries - Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania - will meet Monday to discuss Ukraine's crisis in Hungary's capital Budapest.
Anti-government protests broke out in November 2013 after Ukraine's then President Viktor Yanukovych rejected a trade pact with the EU amid pressure from Moscow.
Following several days of relative calm, deadly clashes broke out when police stormed the protesters' stronghold in Independence Square using tear gas, rubber bullets and smoke grenades that left 88 dead, according to a statement from Ukraine's Health Ministry.
Yanukovych was removed from power late Saturday after a unanimous impeachment vote was passed by the parliament.
Ukrainian parliament names speaker acting president
The Verkhovna Rada - Ukraine's parliament - voted Sunday to appoint newly-elected Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov as the country's interim president.
In Sunday's plenary session, legislators passed a resolution on the temporary transfer of presidential powers to the parliament speaker.
The appointment came one day after Turchynov was elected parliament speaker after Vladimir Rybak resigned when the opposition took control of the legislature.
Turchynov will serve as the acting head of state until presidential elections are held on May 25.
Ukraine's embattled Yanukovych was removed from power late Saturday after a unanimous impeachment vote was passed by the parliament.
In a televised interview from easternUkraine, Yanukovych rejected opposition calls to voluntarily step down and announced he would rebuff parliament’s decisions as he remains the elected head of state.
A presidential aide said Saturday Yanukovych had left Kiev to attend a conference in Kharkiv on the Russian border.
- Parliament sacks foreign, education and science ministers
Ukrainian lawmakers on Sunday also voted unanimously to remove acting Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, acting Education and Science Minister Dmitry Tabachnyk.
The moves follow the Rada's decision to sack Interior Minister Vitaly Zakharchenko and Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka, who were accused of ordering the violent crackdown on anti-government protesters last week.
The lawmakers also unanimously voted to return Yanukovych's lavish Mezhyhirya complex - the presidential palace - to the state.
Anti-government protests broke out in November 2013 after President Viktor Yanukovych rejected a trade pact with the European Union amid pressure from Moscow.
Following several days of relative calm, deadly clashes broke out Thursday when police stormed the protesters' stronghold in Independence Square using tear gas, rubber bullets and smoke grenades that left 88 dead, according to a statement from Ukraine's Health Ministry.
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