Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko signed a decree Wednesday ordering the country's troops to leave Iraq by the end of the year, his office said.

In the decree, Yushchenko ordered the Foreign Ministry to coordinate the pullout with other partners in the US-led coalition in Iraq.

Ukraine, the fourth largest non-US troops contributor in Iraq, started withdrawing its 1,650 soldiers last month, when 137 soldiers returned home.

Eighteen Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and more than two dozen wounded in Iraq.

Source: Xinhua