From our newsroom, on this morning's news of a coalition deal:
Ukraine has formed a five-party ruling coalition comprising the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, the Popular Front, Samopomich, the Radical Party, and Batkivshchyna.
The five pro-Western parties that passed the 5 percent threshold in last month's parliamentary elections control a total of 288 seats in the 421-seat parliament.
They initialed a draft agreement early on November 21 after hours of negotiations.
Ukrainian media reports quote participants as saying the coalition agreed that Ukraine's joining NATO will be its major goal, along with the return of Russian-occupied Crimea under Ukrainian control.
It also mentioned as a priority the protection of the legal interests of Crimean Tatars, as well as all Ukrainian citizens living in "occupied territories."
The parties also agreed on working together toward Ukraine’s integration into the European Union.
The coalition also called for permanent military bases in the country's east, where the Ukrainian army is fighting a pro-Russia insurgency,and for the allocation of at least 3 percent of the nation's gross domestic product for defense.
Additionally, the parties agreed to cancel immunity for lawmakers, reform the election system, ban Soviet and Nazi symbols, and decentralize the power structure.
The parties also agreed to thoroughly investigate the killings of protesters on Kyiv’s Maidan -- Independence Square, in February 2014.
The agreement is expected to be officially presented in parliament later today.
Out of a total of 421 candidates elected to the Verkhovna Rada in the October 26 polls, 225 were elected based on party lists, and 196 in districts using a first-past-the-post electoral system.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who arrived to Kyiv on November 20, is holding talks with President Petro Poroshenko in the Ukrainian capital on November 21.
Based on reporting by UNIAN, liga.net , Interfax and pravda.ua.com
Russian "Novaya Gazeta" and Mashable photojournalist Yevgeny Feldman says he's "passed the Ukrainian border," so unclear whether banned, deported, or otherwise excluded by Ukrainian authorities he has apparently been allowed into Ukraine:
After a scare. Here is one fellow journalist's take on the ban threat:
More profiles of the ranks of the Maidan:
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, Liga.net, and other media quote a parliamentary source as saying say five parties -- Petro Poroshenko Bloc, Popular Front, Samopomych (Self-Help), the Radical Party, and Fatherland (Batkivshchyna) -- have signed a coalition agreement after tough talks following the October 26 elections.
It reportedly includes NATO membership as a stated goal, efforts to win back Crimea through legal channels, and minimum 3 percent defense spending.
The Interpreter offers a good precis of the detailed Liga.net report, including noting:
Thus there are 289 [seats] in the ruling coalition, 29 in the Opposition Bloc, 7 combined in ultranationalist parties Right Sector and Svoboda, 3 in other small parties, and 96 (21%) declared as independent.
Pro-Maidan messages trickling in from European officials.