Kiev/Moscow - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko set December 7 as the date for fresh elections in an announcement on his website on Thursday.

Yushchenko dissolved parliament in a speech broadcast Wednesday evening and called for fresh elections.

Following the collapse of the pro-Western coalition of Yushchenko's party and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc, it is hoped that fresh elections will offer a way out of the current political impasse.

Ukrainians last voted for a new parliament as recently as September 2007.

The former Soviet republic has been in turmoil since the Orange Revolution of 2004. (dpa)