KIEV, Feb. 19 – Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko, under pressure from the opposition Regions Party, will face grilling in Parliament on March 3 over the country’s foreign policy, a sign that lawmakers may seek to dismiss him.

The conciliatory council, a body that unites leaders of all political groups, voted on Thursday to summon Ohryzko with report on the recent UN court ruling establishing maritime border between Ukraine and Romania.

But the timing of the grilling suggests Ohryzko may be really targeted for recently warning Russian Ambassador Viktor Chernomyrdin over possible expulsion due to his rude recent rude remarks about Ukraine.

“There is a threat,” Viacheslav Kyrylenko, the leader of For Ukraine, a small faction within Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense group, said about the possibility of Ohryzko’s dismissal.

“The Regions Party, the Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s Bloc and the Communist Party are interested in dismissing the foreign minister Ohryzko because he is conducting independent pro-Ukrainian policy,” Kyrylenko said. “This is the reason.”

Ohryzko’s warning led to a reaction from Russia, which indicated called the move an “unfriendly” act that may hurt relations between Ukraine and Russia.

A source at the Russian Foreign Ministry said the Russian response to the expulsion would be “symmetrical,” while Konstantin Zatulin, a Russian lawmaker developments like these precede usually precedes the declaration of war.

According to Ukrainian law, a foreign minister may be dismissed in Parliament only if the president submits the special request to do so.

The attempt to dismiss Ohryzko, if backed by the Regions Party, the Tymoshenko Bloc and by the Communist Party, would generate enough votes for the dismissal, but this would certainly trigger a response from President Viktor Yushchenko.

Yushchenko on Thursday defended Ohryzko, saying he acted within the established international and diplomatic norms.

“This is unacceptable for the ambassador to say things that may be taken as non-correct by the nation, the authorities and by the people in general,” Yushchenko said. “Volodymyr Ohryzko acted within the limits of international norms, defending what belongs to the honor and the status of our state.”

In the recent interview with Komsomiolskaya Pravda newspaper, Chernomyrdin said the United States has been working with Ukraine to try to get Ukrainian natural gas pipeline system under its control, and has been also fueling hostilities towards Russia.

“The truth is that the Americans are everywhere. The American ears are sticking out from everywhere,” Chernomyrdin said. “They don’t want a natural gas consortium between Russia and Ukraine. They don’t want anything.”

He also made rude comments describing tough political competition in Ukraine. “They bite each other like dogs, swear at each other… And that’s openly, on television!”

Speaking of Yushchenko, Chernomyrdin said: “He looks like a normal guy… But then this same person appears to do things like this [irritating Russia]. It’s just not him. You can kill me, but he is not able to do that. And still he does. Somebody is helping him.”

The vote over Ohryzko may also put in question the fate of the coalition that currently backs Tymoshenko as some members of the coalition spoke against the dismissal.

“Such dismissal would be not correct in terms of both, geopolitical and domestic political point of view,” Taras Stetskiv, a member of the Self-defense faction within the Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense group.

“That;s why I believe the People’s Self-defense and the whole coalition must vote against the dismissal of the foreign minister,” Stetskiv said. (tl/ez)