Senior Chinese official Wang Gang and parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn met in Kyiv on July 2, official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) reported yesterday. The two sides agreed to step up exchanges and cooperation between the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, and the Ukrainian Parliament.

Ukrainian parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn closed today's extraordinary plenary sitting at around midday local time. Just one issue was resolved today. Parliament voted overwhelmingly to strip MP Viktor Lozinskiy of his immunity from prosecution as an MP, after he had submitted a request yesterday to Parliament asking that his immunity be withdrawn.

The Ukrainian Parliament voted this morning to strip an MP of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, Viktor Lozinskiy, of his immunity from prosecution as a member of parliament. A total of 415 MPs voted overwhelmingly in favour.

Members of the Party of Regions are blocking the rostrum in the Ukrainian Parliament. Approximately 10 MPs are surrounding the rostrum and blocking access to it. The Ukrainian News agency reports that other MPs of the Party of Regions are also in Parliament.

Today's session was to have started at 10.00 local time. Personnel appointments to the Cabinet of Ministers are expected to be discussed.

Tomorrow's extraordinary session of the Ukrainian Parliament will consider three main issues, an MP of the pro-government Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc has said. YTB MP Andriy Kozhemyakin said today that the session will focus on personnel changes in the current Cabinet of Ministers, a draft law on annulling immunity from prosecution applied to members of parliament and, thirdly, annulling the immunity from prosecution of YTB MP Viktor Lozinskiy. He said that the YTB faction would be voting in favour of annulling immunity from prosecution enjoyed by all MPs.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has said that a member of her faction, MP Viktor Lozinskiy, should give up his parliamentary mandate, the 5 Kanal TV channel reported today. Speaking at a briefing broadcast live by 5 Kanal, she said: "I appealed to this MP and demanded that he tender a statement on giving up his mandate."

The Prosecutor-General's Office has launched criminal proceedings against an MP of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, Viktor Lozinskiy. He is said to have been involved in a shooting case in Kirovohrad Region when a local resident was shot dead. Apart from Lozinskiy, the prosecutor of Holovanivsk District, Yevhen Horbenko, and the head of the district police department, Mykhaylo Kovalskiy, were involved in the incident.