Former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich announced his candidacy for the Ukrainian Presidency on Friday, saying the ex-Soviet republic should remain neutral between Russia and western nations, reported the dpa. "I will give Ukraine a new foreign policy: Ukraine will be an unaligned state," Yanukovich said. Reconciliation with Russia, and improved trade relations with the European Union, would be the top foreign policy priorities of a Yanukovich administration, he said. Yankovich"s annoucement, made at a rally in the capital Kiev, marked a visible shift in the veteran politician"s formal position, moving away from a past call by the veteran politician for Kiev to maintain close relations with Moscow at all costs.
