a one-day warning strike, protesting the new VAT scheme between the two countries and Lukashenko's economic policies. Contemplated expansion and both currently have observer status in parliamentary sessions. In informal statements, the prime ministers of the republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia (which is recognised only by Russia and a few other countries) have expressed interest in joining the Union with the Spokesman of the Union reciprocating this interest. No formal requests are known so far. had expressed interest in forming a separate customs union with Russia and Belarus by 2010. This Customs Union was formed as planned at the beginning of 2010. Kazakhstan has mentioned that it may join the Union State after some time. : As of June 2007, opposition in Kyrgyzstan, which has been locked in political turmoil, had initiated a nationwide referendum to join the union of Russia and Belarus. : In 2001, president of Moldova Vladimir Voronin announced right after his election that he had plans for Moldova to join the Union of Russia and Belarus. The coming to power of the Alliance for European Integration at the 2009 Moldovan elections has since shifted Moldovan interest towards the European Union. : in the Transnistrian referendum of 2006, the government said 97.2% of the population voted for the integration of the unrecognized state of Transnistria into Russia, which analysts say indicates a possibility that Transnistria might unilaterally ask to join the Union, once it is established. Already in spring 1998, 66.5% of Transnistrian voters supported joining the Union of Russia and Belarus in a non-binding referendum by the Transnistrian state. However, not being recognised by either member, this is unlikely to happen in the near future. : In response to speculation about Ukraine joining the Union, then-president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, declared that Ukraine is an independent sovereign state and this is not something that can be questioned by anyone in the government. The issue is to be reconsidered in the new light of the Revolution of Dignity and the developments of the Euromaidan movement seeking for the integration into the European Union. During the term of office of the fifth President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, the Constitution of Ukraine in 2019 was amended to consolidate the irreversibility of Ukraine's course to join the European Union and NATO after the events of the Revolution of Dignity in 2014. In 2021, the sixth president of Ukraine, Volodymyr