Ukraine Election Rivals Meet

Nearly three hours of talks involving the two rivals for power in Ukraine's political crisis ended Friday night without resolving the stalemate, although President Leonid Kuchma said progress was made.

Kuchma, who met with the two men who both claim to have won the election to succeed him, said a multilateral working group had been established to find a solution to the dispute that has brought hundreds of thousands of supporters of losing candidate Viktor Yushchenko into the streets to protest what they and Western nations have called seriously flawed balloting.

Kuchma said all sides "stand against any use of force that would lead to bloodshed" and said the working group would begin its consultations immediately.

He did not give details of what was discussed, but a source close to the talks said the prospect of conducting a rerun of Sunday's election was one of the key issues on the table.

The envoys arrived Friday in Ukraine, which has been engulfed in a political standoff since Sunday's presidential election, which the opposition and the West criticized as seriously flawed. Kuchma's government certified the Kremlin-backed Yanukovych as the winner, but Yushchenko claims fraud robbed him of his victory.

Thousands of opposition supporters surrounded and barricaded government buildings as they intensified protests against the outcome of disputed presidential elections. The protesters have set up a sprawling tent camp in Kiev, braving freezing temperatures for five straight nights.

The Western-leaning Yushchenko had previously said that he would only negotiate with Kuchma, and he said the main condition for holding talks would be the president's acknowledgment that the election was invalid.

The presidential administration said it could not immediately confirm the talks.

In Chernihiv, about 80 miles north of Kiev, police fired shots above and threw tear gas at a pro-Yushchenko crowd trying to enter a city council meeting, the Unian news agency cited parliament member Mykola Rudkovsky as saying from the scene.

The report cited him as saying that ambulances were on the scene. There were no immediate details available on possible injuries.

In Kiev, protesters standing five deep and linking arms blockaded the Cabinet building where Yanukovych works and refused to let staff enter, heeding a call Thursday by Yushchenko's popular and more radical ally Yuliya Tymoshenko. Police were packed into about 12 buses nearby.

Protesters also blocked all surrounding streets with buses and vans decorated with Yushchenko's orange flags, posters and ribbons. In an alley some 1,000 feet away from the protesters special forces had parked about 30 trucks and jeeps.

Protesters also surrounded the presidential administration building, which was heavily guarded by ranks of police in riot gear.

Ukraine's Supreme Court gave the political opposition some breathing room Thursday, ordering that the Central Election Commission's final tally not be published pending the outcome of an appeal against the results filed by the opposition candidate's camp. The appeal will be heard Monday, and Yanukovych cannot be inaugurated until results are published.

Although Yanukovych had widespread official backing, including that of the outgoing president, the Supreme Court is respected as an unbiased body. CBS News Correspondent Richard Roth reports that the court's decision thrilled Ukrainians protesting the election they say was hijacked.

"Yeah, we are definitely going to win," said Valentyn Kulchytsky, 23, one of about 100,000 demonstrators standing in freezing weather.

Yushchenko praised the decision, but told the crowd, "This is only the beginning." Meantime, he's told his supporters to keep up the pressure.

On Thursday, Yushchenko campaign chief Oleksandr Zinchenko announced that the opposition-formed National Salvation Committee - a kind of parallel government - would establish national self-defense organizations and take responsibility for defending the Ukrainian Constitution.

Yanukovych said late Thursday, "I don't see any possibility for resolving this conflict by the path of ultimatums ... we should sit at the negotiating table," news agencies reported.

But Yushchenko has insisted that the main condition for starting discussions was that "both sides acknowledge the results of the election were not valid."

Neither Kuchma nor Yanukovych has shown any willingness to do so.

Kwasniewski traveled to Ukraine at Kuchma's request and was bringing a three-point plan: calling on both sides to renounce violence, to urge a recount of the vote and to try to initiate talks.

The crisis has threatened to further divide the former Soviet republic of 48 million people and raised the prospect of civil conflict. Yanukovych drew his support from the pro-Russian, heavily industrialized eastern half of Ukraine. Yushchenko's strength was in the west, a traditional center of nationalism.

On Thursday, Yushchenko supporters set up a barricade of logs and burning tires along a main western road leading from the city of Lviv to the Polish border.

"We are doing this for our president, Yushchenko," said Maria Cherkas, standing at the roadblock.

In Kiev - Ukraine's very European capital, which has thrown its support overwhelmingly behind Yushchenko - opposition supporters maintained their vigil on Independence Square, while Yanukovych supporters continued to arrive from the east on trains and buses.

Moscow considers Ukraine part of its sphere of influence and a buffer between Russia and NATO's eastern flank. Western observers have denounced the vote as fraudulent, citing voter intimidation, multiple voting and other irregularities. The United States and the European Union said they couldn't accept the results as legitimate and warned the Ukrainian government of "consequences" in relations with the West.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has openly backed Yanukovych.