Regions-Our Ukraine Coalition Talks Revived?

President Yushchenko’s effort to negotiate a parliamentary coalition between his Our Ukraine bloc and the Regions party appeared to be close to failure after Regions and its leader Viktor Yanukovich issued a statement on Saturday saying they would not be “blackmailed” into changing their political platform. The statement came after Yushchenko, Yanukovich and Socialist leader Olexander Moroz failed to reach an agreement in a closed-door meeting that ran from early Friday evening until 4 am on Saturday morning. Last night Regions MP Taras Chornovil said his party would not sign the preliminary coalition agreement drafted by the president because it calls for the launch of Nato accession, while the president’s chief of staff said no signature would mean new elections. However, Socialist MP Vasyl Tsushko said Yanukovich had offered to sign on to Yushchenko’s Nato wording in return for a guarantee that he would be premier, which Yushchenko refused. According to Moroz, Yushchenko and Yanukovich began a meeting at 2 pm. Yulia Tymoshenko’s supporters and some others are stepping up calls to dismiss parliament, while the influential columnist Yulia Mostova called on Yushchenko and Our Ukraine to allow Yanukovich to be premier and go into the opposition. Tom Warner: We don’t know what Yushchenko and Yanukovich were arguing about until 4 am in the morning, but Tsushko’s explanation seems most credible. We believe Yushchenko promised to approve Yanukovich’s nomination, but only on condition that Regions agreed to quit the current coalition and then form a new one with Our Ukraine.