Liberal opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko emerged last night from a meeting with his opponent in Ukraine's disputed presidential election insisting on a new vote.
Mr Yushchenko, addressing tens of thousands of supporters in Kiev's Independence Square, said he had rejected a proposal by prime minister Mr Viktor Yanukovich, declared the winner of the poll, to submit irregularities to the courts.
"The Prime Minister cannot hear you. He is offering things which drive Ukraine further from a solution to this political crisis," he said. "We will only hold talks on staging a new vote."
The meeting achieved little of immediate effect although a working group was set up for further talks. Mr Yanukovich, looking disgruntled after the talks, left the presidential palace without comment.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said after the talks both sides had agreed that peaceful protests, referring to blockades set up by opposition protesters, would not prevent the government from functioning.
Kiev, meanwhile, braced itself for violence last night as thousands of miners armed with clubs and batons arrived to confront opposition demonstrators in the city centre.
Before heading to the multi-party talks focused on defusing the crisis, Mr Yanukovich told the miners to be ready for battle, urging them to stop what he called an "unconstitutional coup" by demonstrators.
"Together we must do everything so that an unconstitutional coup in Ukraine does not happen. I believe in our strength, I believe in the law, I believe in the constitution," he said.
Following Thursday's decision by the Supreme Court to review complaints by international monitors of fraud in last Sunday's elections, opposition supporters continued to protest in the capital.
"This is a great time to be alive," said Alexie, a student, standing in front of a line of riot police with steel shields blocking the entry road to the presidential palace. "I never thought my people would show so much determination."
Earlier yesterday the State-run channel TV1 and a smaller channel said they were breaking from what they termed government manipulation, and for the first time began to air coverage of the protests and interviews with protest leaders.
"The journalists had a meeting earlier in the day, they decided there must be no more censorship," said one young journalist.
Despite the talks last night, the signs are that the fragile international consensus achieved during the EU Hague Summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and EU leaders is fraying.