Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko yesterday declared his feud with Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych “finished” after the political rivals agreed on holding snap parliamentary elections in September, AFP reported on Monday, May 28.

“The political crisis in Ukraine is finished. We have come to a decision that represents a compromise,” Yushchenko said at a joint press briefing with Yanukovych after seven hours of overnight talks in Kiev.

“Early elections will be held on September 30,” Yushchenko said.

The breakthrough signalled a major step towards resolution of a weeks-long crisis in this ex-Soviet republic that has sparked concern in neighbouring Russia and the European Union.

“We will do everything so that this is not repeated,” Yanukovych added.

The Council of Europe welcomed the deal, with general secretary Terry Davis saying in a statement: “Your new agreement should stand and in the end it should make you and all Ukrainians feel proud that you have done it alone.”

Now the deal hinges on key votes due to be held tomorrow and Wednesday in the country’s parliament, where the Yanukovych-led majority is bitterly opposed to Yushchenko.

A previous agreement last month between Yushchenko and Yanukovych on fresh elections fell through amid mutual recriminations as the two could not agree on a date for the vote.

Analyst Vadim Karasyov, head of the Institute for Global Strategies in Kiev, told AFP that everything depended on parliament agreeing to play along.

“The date is only the beginning of the end of the crisis and the vote in parliament will be its final point,” Karasyov said.

In a joint statement yesterday, published on the website of the President’s office, the two sides also agreed not to resort to force and not to interfere in the work of courts and law-enforcement agencies.

Tensions rose in recent days as Yushchenko and Yanukovych struggled for control of the security services and a scuffle broke out at the prosecutor’s office in Kiev between two groups of officers loyal to each of the leaders.

But on Sunday, politicians sought to disassociate themselves from the security tangle, with Yushchenko denying that he had ordered thousands of interior ministry troops to intervene in the crisis the previous day.

Such claims were “stupidity and fairy tales,” the president said.

According to Yushchenko the unarmed soldiers were merely deployed to help police celebrations for a Kiev city festival and a football cup final between Dynamo Kiev and Shakhtar Donetsk yesterday.

The head of Ukraine’s security and defence council, Ivan Plyushch, had said in a statement on Saturday that the troops were being sent to guard government buildings, protect public order and prevent “provocations.”

Most of the interior ministry is loyal to Yanukovych and there had been fears of clashes on Saturday when the pro-Yushchenko soldiers found themselves blocked by pro-Yanukovych traffic police en route to Kiev.

Control over interior ministry forces was crucial in the Orange Revolution of 2004, when mass street protests helped bring Yushchenko to the presidency, overturning a flawed vote initially granted to Yanukovych.

The President and the Prime Minister emerged from their gruelling talks yesterday visibly relieved. In a further symbol of the political thaw, the President said they would both attend the keenly-awaited Dynamo-Shakhtar match.

Pro-Yanukovych parliament speaker Alexander Moroz, a key dealmaker also present at the talks, said early elections “were not the very best solution for Ukraine, but a way out of the situation.” The stand-off had begun on April 2.

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