Supporters of Ukraine's president and prime minister are holding rival rallies in Kyiv today as the country's political crisis enters its second week with no sign of a breakthrough, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported.
President Viktor Yushchenko insists he will not back down on his April 2 order to dissolve parliament and call early elections.
National Security and Defense Council Secretary Vitaliy Hayduk said today Yushchenko was prepared to allow for more time before the elections, slated for May 27, and the president "does not rule out the possibility of suspending the presidential decree and setting a date that will give political parties enough time to prepare for the election process."
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych today urged the president to rescind his decree, warning of unspecified "consequences."
Ukraine's Constitutional Court is due to start hearings into the decree's legality on April 17.
Russian Delegation In Kyiv
Meanwhile, a delegation of 20 Russian State Duma deputies are in Kyiv today to meet with their Ukrainian counterparts and government officials.
Speaking to journalists in Kyiv, Duma Deputy Aleksandr Krutov justified the Duma's statement last week denouncing Yushchenko's decree.
The statement "is not interference in [Ukraine's] internal affairs," he said. "It is an assessment of the Ukrainian president's decree. Anybody, any organization, any country may give their assessment to any legal act in any country. The State Duma has given its own assessment and it is fully entitled to do so."
Also today, former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, who played a mediating role during the 2004 Orange Revolution, held talks with Yanukovych and other top officials in Kyiv.
The European Parliament's vice president, Marek Sivets, is also in the Ukrainian capital for talks on the political crisis.
Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
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