Viktor Yanukovych's statement came following the president's refusal earlier Thursday to backtrack on his decree to dissolve parliament and call early elections, and threats of criminal prosecution for officials defying his order to allocate funds for new elections.
Yanukovych and his ruling coalition in parliament have defied the decree, saying they intended to wait for the Constitutional Court to rule on its legitimacy, thereby fueling political tensions in the ex-Soviet state, with coalition and opposition protesters facing off in the capital Thursday.
"I am positive that talks, dialogue and the search for a compromise have not been exhausted yet," Yanukovych said. "The issue of early parliamentary elections should be removed from the agenda, at least until a Constitutional Court decision."
In a further bid to prevent new elections, Yanukovych said he had urged Viktor Yushchenko to rescind his decree, and the Supreme Rada, in turn, to cancel all its subsequent decisions so that talks on a compromise could begin afresh.
The premier earlier promised to revise the law on the Cabinet, which substantially reduced presidential powers, and to meet power-sharing commitments with Yushchenko if he backtracked on the order.
Citing numerous violations of the Constitution by the coalition, Yushchenko said earlier that cancelling the decree was out of question, and urged the premier and all political factions to focus on new elections.
While admitting that elections were unlikely to dramatically alter the political setup, Yushchenko said they would "demonstrate the primacy of the rule of law" in the ex-Soviet nation and demanded that the government ensure their financing.
Yanukovych said his Party of Regions, the largest in parliament, would run for the Supreme Rada if the court upheld the presidential order. "We are not afraid of elections and believe in our victory," he said.
He dismissed fears of the possible use of force to resolve the crisis, echoing Yushchenko's appeals to the security bodies at an emergency National Security and Defense Council session Thursday to stay out of the political brawl.
But, Vitaliy Haiduk, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, obliged the country's Cabinet to provide financing of the disputed elections before April 7.
Yanukovych said it was "impossible to do within the framework of the law," adding that the country's 2007 budget had no provisions providing for the financing of early elections.
Several thousand coalition supporters rallied near the Central Election Commission building Thursday, demanding the order on early elections be ignored. Several hundred have also stationed themselves permanently in a tent camp on Independence Square in anticipation of a court decision.
About 150 members of the pro-democracy youth organization Pora, which backed the pro-Western Yushchenko in the 2004 "orange revolution" protests against Yanukovych's fraud-tainted victory in the presidential race, came "to help police prevent demonstrators from entering the building and other provocations."
But unlike the president and his supporters in the Cabinet, who said the current conflict was a domestic affair, Yanukovych refused to rule out requests for help from Russia, its historic ally, and Poland, a bow to the country's role in Ukraine's European integration aspirations.
"As soon as we have made a decision, we will approach the presidents of the neighboring states, Russia and Poland, and possibly others," he said.
Poland's president, Lech Kaczynski, said Thursday Warsaw would provide help. "If Ukrainian authorities express their willingness [to ask for help], we will undoubtedly agree to discuss the issue," he said.
Moscow also said earlier it was ready to help if Kiev requested it.
The latest twist in the political crisis - simmering since Yanukovych's return as premier last August and an uneasy power-sharing deal with the pro-presidential forces - was triggered after 11 lawmakers defected to the ruling coalition March 23.
The defectors brought the coalition closer to a 300-seat majority that would have allowed it to amend the Constitution and made it immune to presidential vetoes.
