USA blesses Yanukovich's wish to fight with Yushchenko

Washington will not be commenting political events in Ukraine as long as the poll situation remains unclear

The final voting of the presidential election in Ukraine, which took place on December 26th, ended up with another scandal. Viktor Yushchenko, the leader of the orange revolution, took the 8-percent advantage of his rival, Viktor Yanukovich, and won the election. Yanukovich does not agree with this outcome: the candidate filed complaints at the Central Electoral Committee and the Supreme Court of Ukraine to dispute the election results again. The results are being disputed in all 225 polls; the documented evidence of the election fraud has made up 27 volumes.

Spokespeople for Yanukovich's headquarters believe that four million Ukrainians could not express their will honestly due to intimidation, pressure and bribes. An official spokesman for the US Department of State, Adam Ereli, has virtually blessed Yanukovich's appeal against the results of the re-run. The American official stated that it was Yanukovich's prerogative, which complied with the Ukrainian law. Ereli did not forget to mention that the US administration had not rendered support to any of the candidates. Washington will not be commenting political events in Ukraine as long as the poll situation remains unclear, Ereli added.

In the meantime, Viktor Yushchenko's followers are trying to keep up the high morale. They massed outside the headquarters of the Ukrainian government (Viktor Yanukovich still chairs the government) on Wednesday to keep out the beaten opponent. Yushchenko believes that the incumbent government of Ukraine is illegal, for the parliament dismissed the government long ago. It is noteworthy that President Leonid Kuchma did not approve that dismissal. When it was announced that Viktor Yanukovich would not be attending sessions of the cabinet of ministers for two days, Yushchenko's supporters decided not to disturb the government's work and removed their blockades. Viktor Yanukovich is reportedly going to step down from the position of the prime minister, RBC news agency said.

There was another tragic reason, which influenced the decision of Yushchenko's followers to leave the government alone. Ukrainian officials are bidding farewell to Transport Minister, Georgy Kirpa, who mysteriously died on December 27th. The details of the minister's death are not known. Kirpa's relatives and acquaintances are certain that the minister could not commit suicide. The Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Svyatoslav Piskun, stated that investigators were considering several versions of the minister's death, although he did not specify any details.