Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych says new obstacles are impeding the approval of a legislative package needed for holding early parliamentary elections in September.

After days of rising political tensions in Ukraine and concerns over the possible use of force, the country's leaders have reached an agreement to settle their long-standing dispute. President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych announced that Ukraine's political crisis -- which had sparked concerns over the possible use of force -- was finally over.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has announced that he has agreed with President Victor Yushchenko to hold early elections in order to overcome the current political standoff in Ukraine.

Ukraine's president and prime minister today said they have agreed to hold early parliamentary elections. The announcement marks a breakthrough in the leaders' monthlong political standoff sparked by President Viktor Yushchenko's decree to dissolve parliament and call early elections.

President Viktor Yushchenko and other political leaders can overcome the political crisis in Ukraine by agreeing that a new ballot is the only way to overcome the nearly four-week-old political stalemate. That is the compromise suggested by premier to hold early parliamentary elections.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said today that he has offered his rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, to postpone early parliamentary elections originally planned for May 27, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported.

Some 7,000 supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych rallied in Kyiv today to protest President Viktor Yushchenko's order to dissolve parliament and call new elections, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych held talks in an effort to resolve their deepening political standoff. It was the second time the two met in the four days since Yushchenko dissolved parliament on April 2 and called for new elections to be held on May 27.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said today the ruling coalition and the government will not prepare for early elections until the Constitutional Court rules on the issue, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported.

Supporters of Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych rallied today in Kyiv and other cities in a bid to get President Viktor Yushchenko to back down on a threat to dissolve parliament and call early elections.

European Union officials today told Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych that the bloc was currently interested only in a "deeper partnership." In the past, both Kyiv and Brussels have made it clear that full EU membership for Ukraine is a long way off. Yanukovych is in Brussels for an official visit.

Ukrainian Parliamentary Speaker Oleksandr Moroz has announced that a total of 11 opposition lawmakers have defected to the ruling coalition, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported.