Deadlock at Ukraine talks

Talks between Ukraine's president and prime minister failed to end the country's political crisis yesterday as thousands of protesters mingled with Easter revellers in the heart of Kiev.

President Viktor Yushchenko and prime minister Viktor Yanukovich met for about two hours without resolving a political row in which they have threatened each other with prosecution for allegedly violating the constitution in their attempts to monopolise power.

Several thousand supporters of Mr Yanukovich gathered for a fourth consecutive day in the middle of Kiev but there was little tension. Loudspeakers blasted out hymns and folk tunes as Ukrainians prepared for Easter.

There appeared to be no easing, however, in relations between the country's leaders, who first clashed in late 2004, when the so-called Orange Revolution overturned Mr Yanukovich's fraudulent presidential election "victory" and swept Mr Yushchenko into office.

Mr Yushchenko, a staunch advocate of European Union and Nato accession for Ukraine, now accuses his resurgent rival of poaching members of other parties to secure a stranglehold on parliament. Mr Yanukovich, on the other hand, favours close ties with Russia, and says the president's decree to dissolve the legislature and prepare for snap elections on May 27th is illegal.

The premier and his allies have vowed not to take part in any election until the constitutional court rules on the legality of a decree that Russia's parliament condemned in a resolution yesterday.

The old "Orange" parties, however, are preparing for an election that may see them mend fences. "One very important task now is how to unite the democratic forces, create a bloc or blocs and formulate tactics that do not lead to confrontation," Mr Yushchenko said after meeting some of their leaders.