Ukraine to have early parliamentary elections

Ukraine's new President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday called for early parliamentary elections for July 21, reported Al Jazeera.

This comes a day after Zelensky, during his inaugural speech, announced that he would dissolve Parliament to call for early elections, originally scheduled for October.

He has expressed disdain as only four per cent of the lawmakers are Ukrainians.

"The main argument for dissolving the Verkhovna Rada is an extremely low trust of Ukrainian citizens in this institution," Zelensky said, during a meeting with parliamentary leaders.

On Monday, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said he would resign after Zelensky urged him to do so.

He has also promoted Lieutenant General Ruslan Khomchak as chief of the general staff, and lawyer Andriy Bogdan as head of the presidential administration.

Zelensky has vowed to end war with Russia-backed separatists that has claimed about 13,000 lives since 2014 when Moscow annexed Crimea.