KIEV, March 28 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's incumbent leader met with his former bitter rival in the 2004 presidential race Tuesday to discuss the country's parliamentary elections at the weekend, but avoided talking about a possible coalition, an aide to the latter said.
In a scene that might have seemed improbable only 18 months ago amid accusations of electoral fraud, West-leaning Viktor Yushchenko met with pro-Russia Viktor Yanukovych, whose Party of Regions is currently leading in the elections, to talk about the details of the March 26 vote, according to Anna German, an aide to Yanukovych.
"They said the elections to Rada [parliament] had many shortcomings, which prevented a lot of people from casting their votes," German said, adding that the two men had agreed that the situation needed to be remedied.
According to German, the meeting did not touch upon forming a coalition.
"They agreed that the official results of the elections had to be announced first, and then they could discuss a possible coalition," she said.
With 73.5% of the votes in, the Party of Regions currently holds 30.24%, and Yanukovych said after his meeting with Yushchenko that the president "wants stability in Ukraine."
Speculation about a possible parliamentary coalition began after exit polls on Sunday indicated that the vote was likely to be split. It intensified Monday when Yushchenko instructed incumbent Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov to begin coalition talks when the Party of Regions started opening up a substantial gap over its rivals.
The president has already met for consultations with Yulia Tymoshenko, his former prime minister and the leader of an eponymous bloc, which is running second in the polls with 20.42% of votes.
According to Yushchenko's press service, the president was cautious about the consultations, calling them preliminary. "Negotiations must only proceed from principles of unification," he said, adding that only then could the distribution of seats be considered.
Tymoshenko, who was fired by Yushchenko about eight months after the "orange revolution" brought them both to power, dismissed the idea of a coalition with Yanukovych's Party of Regions as impractical.
However, she was far more optimistic about a mooted "orange" coalition to include her bloc, the pro-presidential Our Ukraine bloc (15.14%), and the Socialist Party (6.25%).
The Party of Regions, which exit polls suggest would win about 33% of the vote and so gain the largest representation in the 450-seat Rada, said it was ready to form a coalition with any other party or bloc.
