Russian President Vladimir Putin sharply criticized the Ukrainian opposition's push to repeat the nation's disputed presidential runoff election, telling Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma Thursday that a revote would be pointless.

Meeting with Kuchma at a government airport outside Moscow, Putin said he was surprised by the idea of repeating the November 21 runoff, which Ukraine's opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko is demanding.

Yushchenko says election fraud robbed him of victory and has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court against the official results, which declared Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich the winner.

"A revote could be conducted a third, a fourth, 25th time, until one side gets the results it needs," Putin said sarcastically, in televised comments from the meeting at Vnukovo-2 airport. "It would yield nothing."

Kuchma has called for a completely new election, rather than just a repetition of the runoff.

Putin again warned the West not to interfere in the crisis. The European Union's parliament has backed Yushchenko's call for a repetition of the runoff vote.

"Neither Russia, nor the European Union, nor international organizations will solve the problems," he said. "They all can play the role of mediators, but the Ukrainian people have the last word."

Putin also told Kuchma that Russia was "concerned about the tendencies of a split of the country, and we support your efforts aimed at strengthening the integrity of the state."

With signs emerging the crisis may be heading towards a conclusion, Ukraine's politicians have agreed yesterday to wait for the court's decision before changing laws to allow a new election. The Supreme Court looked set to rule today on the dispute.

"Today we are finishing the process, and the judges will leave to consider. Will there be a decision by the court - I don't know, but probably yes," said Svitlana Kustova, Yushchenko's representative in the court.

Stepan Havrysh, a parliamentary deputy and Yanukovich's representative, said: "My forecast is that the decision will be made tomorrow before lunch."

If the court rules that the election was not legitimate, the Central Election Commission, which had proclaimed Yanukovich the winner, will probably call a new poll.

Agreement to make changes

Talks on Wednesday between the two protagonists failed to end the standoff.

In talks brokered by international mediators, the sides agreed to proceed with constitutional changes to trim the powers of the president and boost those of parliament.

On Wednesday, Ukraine's parliament passed a no-confidence measure against Yanukovich's government with 229 votes, just three more than necessary in Ukraine's 450-seat parliament.

A non-confidence vote automatically triggers the government's resignation, which the president must accept - though he can allow it to continue exercising its powers for up to 60 days until a new Cabinet is formed.

However, many experts questioned the constitutionality of the vote, and Yanukovich called it a "political move that contradicted the law," and refused to step down.

(China Daily December 3, 2004)