Ukrainian premier says parliament had right to dismiss foreign minister.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

Text of report by Ukrainian news agency UNIAN

Donetsk, 1 December: Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych is convinced that the Supreme Council [parliament] dismissed Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk on legal grounds.

Yanukovych said this today to journalists in Mariupol, Donetsk Region.

Commenting at the request of journalists on President Viktor Yushchenko's statement that he is against Tarasyuk's dismissal, Yanukovych said, "The president has the right to express his point of view and …