US and political development in Ukraine

The United States is watching political developments closely in Ukraine but considers the turmoil in the former Soviet republic as characteristic of the struggles that young democracies go through that make them stronger, the State Department said Thursday.

Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, that young democracies sometimes have changes in government, but as long as those changes are made in a constitutional manner, in a peaceful manner, that's all part of the democratic political process

President Viktor Yushchenko fired his prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, and her seven-month-old government Thursday in the midst of infighting and allegations of corruption. The chaos in the government has cost Yushchenko much of the political capital he won with his election last year based largely on promises to end corruption rampant in the government of the former president, Leonid Kuchma, AP reports.