Russian President Vladimir Putin threw his weight on Thursday behind Ukraine's outgoing president in his bid to block a quick rerun of disputed presidential polls that the country's opposition thinks would bring it victory. At a meeting with President Leonid Kuchma at an airport outside Moscow, Putin said the idea of restaging just the second round of the elections, as demanded by opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, could well fail.
He said he shared the views of Kuchma, who has said that if the election is to be held again, it should be done from scratch - a process that could take up to three months. That would keep Kuchma in office and enable him to establish greater control over the election process and choose a candidate to his liking.
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich was declared the winner of a November 21 second round run-off election branded fraudulent by Yushchenko and much of the Western world.
Putin, who twice visited Ukraine during the election campaign to back Yanukovich, told Kuchma in televised remarks: "A repeat of the run-off vote may fail to work. The re-run can be held twice, three times, 25 times until one of the parties gets the desired result."
He also said he was "very worried" about a possible split-up of Ukraine following the elections. "We support your actions aimed at maintaining the integrity of the state," he added.
The Moscow talks came as Ukraine's Supreme Court looked set to rule on Friday on the election dispute.
After 10 days of mass protests, Yushchenko supporters trudged again through slush-filled Kiev streets, responding to his call to exploit the momentum to overturn an election he said was stolen by Yanukovich through mass fraud.
Ukraine's politicians have agreed to wait for the court's decision before changing laws to allow a new election. "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."
NEW STRUGGLE: 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 - but that issue has sparked a new struggle between the two sides.
Yushchenko runs the risk that the mass demonstrations in his support will lose steam and he will run out of funds if the entire process has to start over.
Putin was quick last week to congratulate Yanukovich on winning the poll, although the Kremlin has since backed off. Ukraine, which was second only to Russia in importance in the former Soviet Union, is of vital concern to Moscow.
Jan Kubis, secretary general of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and part of a foreign mediation team in Kiev, was optimistic progress was being made towards resolving the crisis.
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