Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich Saturday urged renewed talks with President Viktor Yushchenko to end the nation's ongoing political crisis.

Yushchenko announced a new decree on Wednesday, which postpones the May 27 elections to June 24.

Yanukovich told a press conference that this new decree has undermined talks launched after the first decree in early April. He demanded an immediate end to "pressure" which he alleged to have been exerted on courts, election officials and the security forces.

In Wednesday's televised speech, Yushchenko said that it was impossible to hold parliamentary elections in May as first proposed, since the Central Election Commission could not operate normally due to insufficient staff.

"If we sit down and come to the conclusion that elections are truly necessary, then such a decision will be taken," Yanukovich said.

Later on Saturday, Yushchenko said that Ukraine will hold early parliamentary elections with no conditions, to establish an honest, constitutional and legal government.

Yushchenko made the remarks at a rally in a central Kiev square, which drew together tens of thousands of his supporters.

The president said the only way to resolve Ukraine's current political crisis is to hold early parliamentary elections on an honest and democratic basis, which will help the country restore political order and eliminate corruption.

Yushchenko said he will soon announce decisions that will guarantee the elections take place "in a calm and appropriate manner." But the president did not say what measures he will take.

Yushchenko also said that the constitution should be revised and brought to voters for approval in a referendum.

Yushchenko issued an order on April 2 to dissolve parliament and hold early elections on May 27. Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich and his ruling coalition in the parliament defied the order and appealed to the 18-judge Constitutional Court.

The Constitutional Court on Tuesday opened a hearing on the legality of the president's order, but due to the wide divergence between the two opposing camps the court found it hard to deliver a prompt ruling, said Chief Judge Ivan Dombrovsky.

The current political turmoil in Ukraine emerged last month when 11 lawmakers from pro-presidential factions defected to Prime Minister Yanukovich's ruling coalition, moving it closer to a 300-seat, veto-proof majority in the parliament that could allow Yanukovich's allies to change the Constitution.

Yushchenko called the defection illegal, saying the law permits only blocs, not individual lawmakers, to switch sides.

Both sides have agreed to abide by whatever the court rules.

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2007)