Ukraine: former Orange allies reach coalition deal

The agreement was expected to be presented in parliament Wednesday, the Ukrainska Pravda Web site and NTN television reported. If formed, the new government would maintain Ukraine's pro-Western, reformist course.

Photo: Ukraine: former Orange allies reach coalition deal

The parties were not commenting on the reports, but President Viktor Yushchenko's office said he met the leaders of the three so-called Orange parties late Tuesday for a round-table discussion.

Ukraine's political life has been paralyzed since the March parliamentary election ended without giving any one party enough votes to form a majority on its own. The three parties that led the 2004 Orange Revolution mass protests against election fraud immediately began talks to reunite, but struggled to overcome deep hostility created by their earlier breakup. Yushchenko fired Tymoshenko from the prime minister's job in September, and has seemed reluctant to see her return, the AP reports.