The Ukrainian parliament should not consider dismissing Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, the country's president, parliament's speaker and Yatseniuk said in joint statement on Tuesday, in which they called on lawmakers to work together to pass critical reform bills, according to Reuters. Signs of deep divisions in Ukraine's pro-Europe coalition have fuelled speculation Yatseniuk's government will fall, while the country's Western backers warn that time is running out for Kiev to make good on its promises to root out endemic corruption and cronyism. "Now more than ever we need unity, mutual support and ongoing collaboration between the president, the parliament and the government," President Petro Poroshenko said in the joint statement with Yatseniuk and Speaker Volodymyr Groysman. "The question of changing the prime minister is not on the agenda." The call for political unity comes amid disagreement in parliament over critical tax reforms, which has delayed disbursing up to $4 billion in international financial assistance for this year. An extraordinary parliamentary session has been called for Thursday to address the tax amendments and draft a 2016 budget.Poroshenko, Yatseniuk and Groysman called on lawmakers to support the bills. "The interests of Ukraine must be placed above all else, political passions must be calmed and political culture demonstrated that is worthy of a European country," the joint statement said.
