Crisis in Ukraine

Ukraine's political crisis escalated on Friday as President Viktor Yushchenko attempted to take control of thousands of interior ministry troops away from his rival Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

The menacing new twist in a long-running power struggle between the two leaders drew expressions of concern from Europe, Russia and the United States, which warned against the use of violence.

Yushchenko ordered that authority over interior ministry forces be removed from the government headed by the premier and transferred to the president, in a decree published on his official website. The president already controls the army under Ukraine's constitution.

The decree covers interior ministry troops with military training often used for anti-riot operations and does not include the police force or the ministry's elite Berkut unit.

Yanukovych angrily rejected the president's order as an anti-constitutional "interference in the activities of the executive branch," while speaking to Western diplomats in a televised meeting.

Parliamentary speaker and Yanukovych ally Oleksandr Moroz went further during the same meeting with foreign diplomats, describing the president's move as a "coup attempt."

US calls for peaceful resolution

Reacting to the rising political temperature in Kiev, the United States called on both sides to resolve their dispute "without violence" and to abide by democratic rules. "We expect the Ukrainians to follow their constitutional and legal processes and live up to their responsibilities in a democracy," national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters.

Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov of Russia, Ukraine's giant neighbor and main trading partner, said that he was "worried" about the escalating tensions and also urged authorities to abide by the law.

Germany urges restraint

Johannes Regenbrecht, a German diplomat at the meeting with Yanukovych, warned that the use of force to solve the crisis would have serious consequences in Ukraine's relations with Europe. "All means must be used to avoid an escalation," Regenbrecht said.

The European Union expressed its and urged the feuding president and prime minister to try to settle the stand-off peacefully. "The presidency of the European Union is increasingly concerned about recent developments in Ukraine," the current German presidency of the EU said in a statement. "The presidency urges President Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yanukovych to assume the responsibility which they have to resolve the political crisis in Ukraine through negotiations, as agreed," the statement said.

"These events cannot but aggravate the political situation in the country," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a separate statement from Brussels. "I call upon all political forces in Ukraine to do their utmost, on the basis of a constructive attitude and in a peaceful and lawful manner, to find a viable political compromise to solve the current political impasse and to refrain from any action which would further exacerbate the situation, especially by involving the security forces," she said.

"This is vital for the people of Ukraine, and for Ukraine's continued progress on the path of political and economic reform."

On Thursday, the interior ministry's elite Berkut forces raised the president's ire by defying his order to dismiss the country's prosecutor general, a Yanukovych ally, who refused to step down calling his dismissal illegal.

The elite forces, which are not affected by Friday's decree, arrived at the offices where the prosecutor general was holed up, and scuffled with security personnel controlled by the president.

Dissolution of parliament prompts crisis

The latest round of political recriminations in Ukraine began with Yushchenko's dissolution of parliament last month, part of an ongoing dispute with the prime minister over the course of the country.

Yushchenko, who cancelled a trip to the Czech Republic on Friday due to the latest crisis, favors full integration with the West, including the NATO military alliance, while the prime minister favors close ties with Moscow.

In recent weeks, the two have been locked in stalemate over the timing of new parliamentary elections, and a reported deal appears to be in tatters after the latest stand-off. "I would say that I no longer have any optimism that results can be achieved considering the opposition demonstrated by the two sides," Yushchenko told a meeting of regional leaders on Friday, the Interfax news agency reported.

Yanukovych struck a more optimistic note, calling for a "return to political dialogue," during the televised meeting with foreign diplomats.

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.

Reports at the time said Yushchenko's victory over Yanukovych was due to a refusal by interior ministry forces to follow orders to crush the "people power" protests.

On Friday, thousands of Yanukovych supporters rallied outside the prosecutor's office to protest against the president's decree as part of ongoing anti-Yushchenko demonstrations in Kiev.