Yulia Tymoshenko, the newly appointed prime -minister of Ukraine, has pledged that her pro-western governing coalition will seek to "harmonise" relations with Moscow

Many observers expected the charismatic 47-year old, who was appointed last week, to shake up bilateral relations between Kiev and Moscow. Relations between the countries have been strained since the Orange Revolution of 2004. The trigger, many thought, would be her plans to cut intermediaries out of the multi-billion-dollar natural gas trade between Ukraine, Russia and central Asian suppliers.