KIEV , Nov. 3 ??“ Ukraine ??™s pro-Russian government coalition scheduled a no-confidence vote in the foreign and defense ministers on Nov. 15 in the latest assault on President Viktor Yushchenko??™s pro-Western foreign policy.

The development comes as the coalition, which includes the Regions Party and two small leftist allies controlling 241 lawmakers in 450-seat Parliament, has been seeking to clear the Cabinet completely from Yushchenko??™s loyalists.

The vote may trigger a sharp political confrontation between the president and the government leading to a serious political crisis that may halt economic and political reforms in Ukraine .

Foreign Minister Boris Tarasiuk and Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko, both Yushchenko loyalists, are the key backers of the policy that anticipates Ukraine ??™s quick accession to NATO and integration with the European Union.

This policy has been challenged persistently by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, the leader of the pro-Russian Regions Party, who declared in September that Ukraine should postpone the accession to NATO indefinitely.

???[Tarasiuk] must leave the government to which he is in opposition,??? Yanukovych said Friday when asked about the scheduled no-confidence vote.

The coalition sacked two Yushchenko??™s loyalists from the government last week, including the justice and culture ministers, and tried to suspend for two months another one, Internal Affairs Minister Yuriy Lutsenko.

???This is the beginning of a new legal war in Ukraine that will not help to consolidate the society,??? Yuriy Kliuchkovskiy, Yushchenko??™s representative in Parliament, said. ???It will have serious consequences.???

The developments underscore challenges that Yushchenko faces while trying to push Ukraine closer to the West, while Yanukovych has been seeking to re-orient the country towards greater cooperation with Russia , its key supplier of energy.

Russia used its gas supply monopoly in January by shutting down supplies of natural gas to Ukraine , causing major supply disruptions throughout Europe , citing a price dispute.

Russia has been seeking a dramatic gas price hike that could cripple Ukraine ??™s economy after Kiev had declared pro-Western foreign policy in early 2005.

Yanukovych has been apparently seeking to change Ukraine ??™s pro-Western course to secure a better gas supply deal, analysts said.

Following Yanukovych??™s anti-NATO statements in September, Russia has indicated it could sell gas to Ukraine at $130/1,000 cubic meters in 2007, about half the market price.

The gas supply deal, however, was announced two weeks ago as an agreement between two gas traders that are apparently both, directly or indirectly, controlled by Russian gas monopoly Gazprom.

The final details of the deal have never been released fueling suspensions that Moscow has been seeking more political concessions from Ukraine , analysts said. (tl/ez)