Ukraine president, assembly deadlocked over poll

Efforts to resolve deadlock over re-staging a rigged election stalled yesterday after Ukraine's outgoing president reported no progress in talks and parliament took no action to change legislation and the constitution.

The row caused further ripples between the West and Russia, which blocked US and European diplomatic efforts for a joint position on the December 26 election re-run. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that amounted to interference in Ukraine's affairs.

The election, rigged by authorities to hand power to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, triggered mass protests in support of opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko.

The Supreme Court backed Yushchenko's charges of mass fraud and ordered the new vote.

Signs emerged that more than two weeks of turmoil were beginning to dent the economy. The budget deficit jumped to $1 billion from next to nil in the two months preceding the tainted November 21 vote.

The latest mediation effort to reconcile an opposition that has mobilised hundreds of thousands of protesters and President Leonid Kuchma suffered a setback when the veteran leader reversed his stance on concessions within a matter of hours.

Some progress appeared to have been made after marathon "round-table" negotiations brokered by European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, when Mr Kuchma told reporters he would meet two of three opposition demands.

But, in a written statement hours later, he said: "If we are to speak in general terms, no agreement was reached and instead of a statement from the round-table talks, there was simply a statement for the press."

Parliament also adjourned without passing the laws agreed with Mr Kuchma as part of an earlier deal to end the stand-off.

In Bulgaria, Russia torpedoed a declaration by 55 member states of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which called for all parties in Ukraine to cooperate for a fair re-run of the tainted vote.