KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s new governing coalition in parliament said Tuesday it will pass a law against joining military alliances such as NATO, a move that is sure to please Russia while tilting Ukraine away from its previous pro-Western course.

In a statement of purpose published Tuesday in the parliament’s official newspaper, the coalition supporting President Viktor Yanukovych said new legislation will “enshrine Ukraine’s nonaligned status in law.”

Such a move would kill one of the key initiatives of Yanukovych’s predecessor, the staunchly pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko, who had struggled to gain admission to NATO since he was vaulted to power by the Orange Revolution protests of 2004.

Although Yushchenko’s NATO ambitions never gained broad public support, they managed to infuriate Russia — which recently published a military doctrine naming the alliance’s possible eastward expansion as the country’s top external threat.

Moscow’s effort in recent years to restore its own influence over Ukraine and other former Soviet states got a powerful boost with the election of Yanukovych, who has pledged to cooperate with Russia on key energy and military issues.

On Tuesday, Ukraine’s opposition had a bristling reaction to the governing coalition’s statement.

“Today we are forming a union of opposition parties,” said opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, who lost to Yanukovych in the hard-fought presidential race last month.

“It will allow us to coordinate our efforts, giving us the ability to protect Ukraine and its democratic path,” Tymoshenko said at a signing ceremony with seven other senior lawmakers who oppose Yanukovych.

• Anna Melnichuk