KIEV, May 5 (RIA Novosti, Anna Vernoslova) - Ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Friday she was convinced that a three-way parliamentary coalition was the only way forward for the country.
Speaking after talks with President Viktor Yushchenko on forming a parliamentary majority as required by the country's constitution, she said the coalition would include her own bloc, pro-presidential grouping Our Ukraine, and the Socialist Party.
"A coalition made up of three political forces will be born 100%," Tymoshenko said. "The talks were successful, and certain terms were outlined. We agreed that on May 10-11 we will be reading a draft coalition agreement."
Yushchenko's press service said earlier the president would meet Friday with the leaders of elected parliamentary parties and the current prime minister, Yuriy Yekhanurov, to discuss the formation of a parliamentary coalition.
The move is an apparent bid to break current deadlock as the deadline approaches to form a coalition in the Rada, a step required for the formation of a government.
Tymoshenko said democratic forces had an absolute majority in parliament.
"I am not afraid that the situation could change after talks between President Viktor Yushchenko and Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovich that will take place Friday," she said.
The leader of Ukraine's Socialist Party, Alexander Moroz, told journalists that a parliamentary coalition was in the process of being created.
"The process has been proceeding smoothly," he said, adding that talks "in the coalition-opposition format had neared a point that will make the authorities function effectively, in favor of the Ukrainian nation."
Moroz said the issue of who should be prime minister had not been discussed.
According to the official results of the March 26 election, the Party of Regions, led by former presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych, won 32.14% of the vote and will take 186 seats in Ukraine's 450-seat parliament.
Yanukovych's party is followed by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's eponymous bloc with 22.29% of the vote (129 seats), the pro-presidential Our Ukraine bloc with 13.95% (81 seats), the Socialist Party with 5.69% (33 seats) and the Communist Party with 3.66% (21 seats).
No other party won a 3% share of the vote needed to take up a place in the Rada, which under the country's constitution must convene 30 days after the publication of the election results in two newspapers on April 27.
