White House Welcomes Release of Ukraine's Tymoshenko

The White House welcomed the release from prison on Saturday of former Ukraine prime minister and opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, saying that the strife-hit country's people "must determine their own future."

"We wish her a speedy recovery as she seeks the appropriate medical treatment that she has long needed and sought," a statement said, adding: "The unshakeable principle guiding events must be that the people of Ukraine determine their own future."

Protesters in Ukraine seized control of the capital Kiev and celebrated Tymoshenko's release, but marginalized President Viktor Yanukovych defiantly declared he still wielded power.

The situation in the ex-Soviet nation -- deeply divided between aspirations towards the European Union and loyalty to Russia -- was still fluid and uncertainty reigned over whether the opposition had definitively triumphed over Yanukovych on a day of high drama, exactly three months into the country's crisis.

The parliament in Kiev stepped into the power vacuum left by Yanukovych's departure to the pro-Russian eastern bastion city of Kharkiv by voting to oust the embattled president and setting new elections for May 25.

Lawmakers followed that up with an equally dramatic move ordering the release of Tymoshenko -- a former premier and stalwart supporter of close EU ties who remained Yanukovych's nemesis even when she was sent to prison in 2011 on a seven-year sentence for "abuse of power."

"We have consistently advocated a de-escalation of violence, constitutional change, a coalition government, and early elections, and today's developments could move us closer to that goal," the White House statement said.

"We welcome constructive work in the Rada (parliament) and continue to urge the prompt formation of a broad, technocratic government of national unity."

It added: "We will work with our allies, with Russia, and with appropriate European and international organizations to support a strong, prosperous, unified, and democratic Ukraine."