Even as Russian troops roll across the Ukrainian border, political gridlock and paranoia in Kiev prompted President Petro Poroshenko to dissolve the nation's Parliament and called for a new vote on October 26.

"I have decided to terminate the powers of Verkhovna Rada [Ukraine's parliament] early," he said, as quoted on his official website.

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Poroshenko maintained that the "current composition of the parliament has been the mainstay of Yanukovych", referring to the Russian-leaning former Ukrainian president ousted amid mass protests in Kiev in February.

The dissolution, which comes on the heels of a breakup of the ruling majority coalition last month, was in line with "the expectations of the vast majority of the citizens of Ukraine" the embattled Poroshenko said, and called it a "cleansing" the parliament. 

"Elections is the best way of cleaning things up," he said.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian president journeys north to the country of Belarus for a summit in the capital of Minsk, where he will face off against Russian president Vladimir Putin. It is widely assumed the Russian strongman will aim to pressure Ukraine, long a part of Russia's sphere of influence, to negotiate an end to the crisis over a military reconquest.

Despite denials from Moscow, many world leaders and analysts have come to believe Putin is secretly supporting pro-Russian separatists and militias with arms and other supplies. The downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 was done with a sophisticated, military-grade surface-to-air missile system that, critics charge, could only have come from advance weapons manufacturers in Russia. 

In a serious blow to Poroshenko, German chancellor Angela Merkel, who will also be attending the Minsk summit, said Ukraine was free" to go" to Russia's proposed Eurasian common market, signaling that Ukraine may not be worth rousing the ire of Russia, on whose oil Europe's many economies depend. 

TagsUkraine crisis, angela merkel, Petro Poroshenko, Minsk