Viktor Yanukovych reiterated his promise to revise the law on the Cabinet, which reduced presidential powers, and to meet power-sharing commitments with Viktor Yushchenko if he backtracks on the order.
Opening a Cabinet session, Yanukovych said: "There is only one way out, which is to cancel the presidential decree [on parliament and early elections]. If he [Yushchenko] does not do that, the Constitutional Court will do it, and we will carry out its decision."
Western-leaning Yushchenko and his long-time political opponent, Yanukovych backed by Russia, negotiated for more than four hours Tuesday, but failed to reach a consensus.
The Supreme Rada dominated by Yanukovych's supporters has continued work in defiance of what it called an illegitimate presidential order, which it referred to the Constitutional Court Tuesday. The court said it would make a decision within five days.
Yanukovych said Wednesday the Constitutional Court head could hand in his resignation: "I have learned that the chairman of the Constitutional Court has been under pressure. As far as I know he will tender his resignation today."
The court's press service has so far not confirmed the planned resignation of Ivan Dombrovsky, appointed to the post last August by the president.
Parliament has meanwhile prohibited the government to allocate funds for an election. It also dismissed the Central Election Commission and reinstated the commission disbanded for allegedly counterfeiting results of the presidential elections in late 2004, when Yanukovych was knocked out of the race.
Dozens of supporters of Yanukovych's Party of Regions, and its allies Communists and Socialists, have set up tents in the central Independence Square, saying they would stay there until a court ruling.
Despite calls for them to disperse some 20 supporters of the opposition bloc, led by Yushchenko's flamboyant "orange revolution" ally Yulia Tymoshenko, are still in the square following mass protests in Kiev at the weekend.
Tymoshenko said political differences would be settled through the elections President Viktor Yushchenko had fixed for May 27.
The latest twist in the simmering political crisis in Ukraine was triggered by the defection of 11 members of Tymoshenko's and pro-presidential Our Ukraine blocs March 23. They defected to the majority coalition, bringing it closer to a 300-seat constitutional majority in the 450-member Supreme Rada.
Yushchenko and Tymoshenko said the move revised the results of the March 2006 elections.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez said in an interview with a Russian daily Wednesday that he had cancelled his visit to Ukraine, which has made a bid to join the World Trade Organization.
