Ukraine's Poroshenko Plans New Team to Take on Putin, Build Ties with West

June 8, 2014

Ukraine's newly-installed President Petro Poroshenko is set to remake a governing team which will handle the crisis with Russia, with talks on gas prices on Monday providing an early test of his new relationship with President Vladimir Putin.

First steps for Poroshenko, whose confectionery business earned him the nickname of the "Chocolate King," will be to name key members of his team.

He is expected soon to name a new foreign minister — possibly Valery Chaly who has been in charge of foreign policy issues in his campaign. He has the right also to name a defense minister — another key post given the Army's involvement in quelling the eastern rebellions and the perceived need to stop Russian fighters crossing the border.

Other key allies will be Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who is at the forefront of the sensitive gas talks with Russia over pricing. The liberal prime minister, himself a former economy minister, has already pledged to work "as a single whole" with the president and parliament.

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