"One should act within the legal framework, I believe. Ukraine's Central Electoral Commission has declared the winner in line with the election law," Mr. Gryzlov pointed out, adding that he had personally congratulated the "rightful winner" on the success.
The Duma Speaker has just returned from the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, where he took part, along with other international mediators, in the talks between Viktor Yanukovich and his opposition challenger, Viktor Yushchenko. Summing up his trip to reporters in Moscow on Saturday, Boris Gryzlov said he had asked Mr. Yushchenko to deliver a televised address to his supporters, asking them to stop street protesters, but that the opposition leader would not listen.
At their talks on Friday, Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovich agreed that neither side would resort to violence, Mr. Gryzlov said. He said the fact of the two political rivals meeting at the negotiating table was, in itself, an achievement, but acknowledged that the talks had failed to break the stalemate.
The negotiators agreed to set up a working group to deal with the crisis, Boris Gryzlov reported. The group will include incumbent President Leonid Kuchma, Parliament Speaker Vladimir Litvin, and the two presidential candidates.
