Sometime early today there was a hopeful sign as Ukraine's rivals agreed to meet for talks on the current political crisis following the disputed
election results. According to the following updated report the two sides failed to resolve the political crisis and are no closer to deciding who
will lead this bitterly divided nation. It looks like civil war is still very much possible.
ABCNEWS.com Full Article
KIEV, Ukraine Nov 26, 2004 — Ukraine's two rivals for power failed in nearly three hours of talks Friday to resolve the political stalemate over who
will lead the bitterly divided nation, and opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko told a huge rally that he was insisting on a new election.
Outgoing President Leonid Kuchma presided at the meeting with Yushchenko, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich and a delegation of key European envoys,
and he said a working group had been established to find a solution to the crisis over who will succeed him. The group was expected to begin meeting
as soon as Saturday.
The Krelim-backed Yanukovych was declared the winner of Sunday's election but cannot be inaugurated pending hearing of an appeal to the Supreme Court
filed by the Yushchenko camp.
President Bush said from his vacation home in Crawford, Texas, that the world "is watching very closely" and he hoped the crisis would be "resolved
in a way that brings credit and confidence to the Ukrainian government." The United States and European Union have said they cannot accept the
results of the runoff election, warning of "consequences" of Ukraine's relations with the West if the current outcome stands.
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They say when they stop talking bad things can happen.
One can only hope they will find a way to at least keep talking and keep a channel of communication and dialog open.
The people of the Ukraine seem to have a much stronger will than many expected.