Yushchenko Cautious About Orange Coalition

Actors masked as President Yushchenko and Yuliya Tymoshenko, key players in postelection talks, dance together prior to the parliamentary elections on March 26 (epa) April 6, 2006 -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko says a step by his political bloc toward reuniting with its former Orange Revolution allies is "only the beginning of negotiations."

Yushchenko's Our Ukraine has drafted an agreement setting the basis for a coalition with the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc and the Socialist Party.

Together, the three political blocs would have a majority in the new parliament. But the same coalition fell apart last September, when Yushchenko fired Tymoshenko as prime minister.

"Lessons have been learned," Yushchenko said. "The problems that made the previous coalition fall apart have been resolved. How lasting is this [new] coalition going to be? I'm sure everything depends on trust, on the sincerity of declared values, and on individual actions."

Yushchenko also said the pro-Russian Party of Regions' first-place finish in the March 26 parliamentary vote also needed to be taken into consideration.

(compiled from agency reports)