Aimless drifting..

Yushchenko's NSNU say they will sign a coalition agreement with Party of Regions of Ukraine as long as three conditions are met :

• PRU reject federalism
• PRU reject decisions providing Russian language regional status
• PRU reject the assertion that Ukraine is 'NATO-free territory'

An NSNU source says bilateral "consultations" are taking place, but considers "calling them negotiations, [is] simply laughable." However, the source considers the positions of PRU and the Socialist Party of Ukraine 'very close'.

In the March parliamentary elections PRU received more than twice the number of votes than NSNU, and have 186 deputies to NSNU's 81. Surely it is PRU that should be dictating the terms, not NSNU? The Russian language issue in particular was a big plank in PRU's election campaign, and they really 'played up' the recent business with NATO troops in Crimea to embarrass Yushchenko, so there's a huge gap to bridge over before an NSNU-PRU deal can be agreed.

The tone of resignation in yesterday's addresses by Yuliya Tymoshenko and Oleksandr Moroz to parliament seemed to indicate that they considered their lengthy negotiations with NSNU were at an end. But President Yushchenko today still claimed he supports the creation of a democratic orange coalition. "The political forces that were victorious in democratic elections should carry out their mission and find mutual understanding within the framework of negotiations on formation of a coalition," he told journalists.

He added, that although he was not a participant in negotiations, "I shall do everything that needs to be done, in order that a democratic coalition takes place in Ukraine."

More of this on pressa's website in English here.

Does anyone really know anymore what he really wants or in what direction he is heading?