Crisis in Ukraine

Pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko pledged on Tuesday to find a democratic solution to his country's political crisis and ruled out the use of force.

"We are determined to find a democratic resolution to the parliamentary crisis in Ukraine," he told reporters in Brussels, after talks with European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso.

"We've never been saying and never (been) crudely speaking about any option with using force to resolve the situation," Yushchenko said.

The Ukrainian president said he would respect any decision taken by his country's Constitutional Court, which on Tuesday opened a hearing into Yushchenko's standoff with Yanukovych over the president's decision to dissolve parliament and call early elections.

"A serious political crisis"

For his part, pro-Russian Yanukovych, who rejects the decree, is due Tuesday to address the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, a continent-wide rights body, in the French city of Strasbourg.

Barroso called the situation in Ukraine "a serious political crisis," but appealed to both sides to find a negotiated solution.

"We hope this political crisis is solved according to the rules of democracy," Barroso said, adding that he was "more confident" a lawful and democratic solution could be found after his talks with Yushchenko.

Yushchenko has defended his two-week-old decree, having originally dissolved Ukraine's assembly after accusing Yanukovych of trying to steal his supporters for the government's coalition.

Yanukovych and his majority in the 450-seat parliament have defied the order and appealed to the court to resolve the matter.

Legal or not?

The Constitutional Court in Kiev on Tuesday began proceedings determine whether Yushchenko's decision two weeks ago to dissolve parliament was legal; Yanukovych claims it was not.

Last week, five of the court's 18 judges complained that they had come under "gross pressure" from the prime minister's parliamentary majority and demanded protection by bodyguards. A ruling from the court could take as long as a month.

Both sides have pledged to abide by the Constitutional Court ruling, but many officials say such a decision would broaden divisions and suggest a negotiated settlement could obviate legal action.

Both the president and prime minister have called for a political deal to resolve the crisis, possibly by postponing the May 27 parliamentary election laid down in Yushchenko's decree, a move that has also been suggested by European officials, including an EU envoy in Kiev last week.