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Posted on 12/02/2004 1:56:21 PM PST by Agog
Ukraine’s Kuchma seeks Putin support By Stefan Wagstyl and Tom Warner in Kiev and Arkady Ostrovsky in Moscow Published: December 2 2004 18:55 | Last updated: December 2 2004 18:55
Ukraine’s president Leonid Kuchma said on Thursday he was willing to dismiss prime minister Viktor Yanukovich’s government if parliament proceeded with reforms to weaken the power of the presidency in favour of the government and prime minister.
”We urgently need to implement political reform. The government will be dismissed and there will be a new government...The most important thing for Ukraine now is to have a working government,” Mr Kuchma told a meeting of ministers after returning from a one day visit to Moscow, where he held talks with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin. Ukraine’s parliament passed a no confidence vote in the government earlier this week.
Mr Putin backed Mr Kuchma in rejecting demands from Viktor Yushchenko, the opposition leader, for an early re-run of last month's disputed presidential election in which Mr Yanukovich was officially declared the winner. “Russia will always be with Ukraine. We are willing to participate in regulating the situation to the extent that you feel is right,” Mr Putin told Mr Kuchma, in a carefully-orchestrated televised meeting in the Kremlin.
Mr Kuchma will draw strength from Mr Putin's comments in his efforts to retain some power by insisting that any new presidential elections must be preceded by political reforms which would transfer key responsibilities from the president to parliament.
Mr Kuchma has also proposed completely new elections, with new candidates, which would take three months to organise, prolonging his time in office.
US president George Bush implicitly warned Moscow to stay out of the dispute. “Any election, if there is one, ought to be free from any foreign influence,” Mr Bush told reporters at the White House. “Neither Russia, the European Union or international organisations, even the most authoritative, can resolve the problem.”
Mr Yushchenko criticised Mr Kuchma for flying to Moscow saying it would not help the resolution of the conflict. Mr Kuchma's visit came the day after international mediators headed by Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, visited Kiev for intensive negotiations aimed at finding common ground between Mr Kuchma, Mr Yushchenko and Mr Yanukovich.
The talks produced only a vague agreement to work for new elections, political reforms and an end to the blockades which Mr Yushchenko's supporters have imposed on public buildings. It later emerged that Mr Yushchenko had no intention of calling the crowds from the barricades until he sees progress on his political demands. The demonstrators, who have braved freezing cold since the disputed polls on November 21, have pledged to stay in place until Mr Yushchenko is legally declared president.
Ukraine's Supreme Court is now completing its review of the country's disputed presidential election and looked set to announce an early verdict, possibly as soon as Friday.
The Supreme Court's decision is expected to prompt a fresh bout of talks, once the parties have worked out how its ruling affects their positions. Mr Yushchenko's supporters have taken comfort from the sympathetic hearing they believe they have had from the court. But the judges have given no indications of their likely verdict. Mr Solana and the other international mediators pledged to return to Kiev after the court gave its verdict and are expected early next week.
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