KIEV, May 31 – President Viktor Yanukovych on Monday appointed Hryhoriy Pedchenko, the first deputy defense minister and his long-time political ally, as chief of the general staff and commander of Ukraine’s armed forces.

Pedchenko replaces Army General Ivan Svida, who submitted his resignation on Friday, apparently after a disagreement with Yanukovych over defense policy.

Yanukovych accepted the resignation, and by another decree appointed Pedchenko to the post, according to a report posted by Yanukovych’s press service.

The position gives Pedchenko the ultimate control over the country’s armed forces. Svida was holding the post since November 2009.

The reshuffle underscores a switch in Ukraine’s foreign and defense policies towards greater cooperation with Russia, abandoning earlier course towards accession to NATO, the European military alliance.

Yanukovych’s predecessor, Viktor Yushchenko, over the past five years had been pushing for quick accession to NATO, but the policy has seriously angered Moscow, which views NATO as a military threat.

Pedchenko, then the general-lieutenant and the commander of Ukraine’s Southern Operative Command, was dismissed from the army by Yushchenko in 2005.

In the run-up to the presidential election in February, Pedchenko has been helping the Yanukovych campaign in the southern regions of the country that have overwhelmingly voted in favor of Yanukovych.

He was appointed as the first deputy defense minister shortly after the inauguration of Yanukovych to the presidency.

The latest appointment must have been accompanied by Yanukovych’s another decree re-instating Pedchenko in the army, but that decree hasn’t been published.

Pedchenko may have been re-instated in the military as he has already “ordered” tailoring a special general uniform, Unian news agency reported Monday citing a source familiar with the development.

The reshuffle comes days after Yanukovych had ruled out Ukraine’s accession to NATO any time soon, abandoning the policy pursued by Yushchenko.

However, Yanukovych insisted that Ukraine will continue to cooperate with NATO.

Earlier this month Yanukovych supported Moscow’s global security initiative that calls for adopting legally binding commitments to ensure the “space of stability” between North America, Europe to Russia.

The initiative was earlier suggested by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, but had been lukewarmly received by NATO.

Ukraine has become one of the few countries that have actually supported the idea. (tl/ez)