KIEV: Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko on Wednesday announced the dissolution of parliament following the collapse last month of the country's pro-Western coalition government.

"In conformity with the Ukrainian constitution, I halt the parliament's powers and announce parliamentary elections," Yushchenko said in a televised address to the nation.

Yushchenko did not specify the date for the elections, which according to the constitution must be held within 60 days of the parliament's dissolution.

The government collapsed in September after Yushchenko's party pulled out in protest at Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's decision to support a bid by the pro-Russian opposition to reduce the president's powers.

Tensions between Yushchenko and Tymoshenko, likely rivals at the next presidential elections set for late 2009 or early 2010, deepened further during the Russo-Georgian conflict in August, with Yushchenko supporting Tbilisi and charging Tymoshenko with "treason" for her neutral stance.

"I am deeply convinced that it was human ambition that destroyed the democratic coalition - one person's ambition, lust for power, differences in values and putting personal interests ahead of national ones," Yushchenko said, referring to Tymoshenko, in his televised speech.

The pro-Western leader pulled his party from the ruling coalition on September 3, while parliament officially announced its collapse on September 16.

Under Ukraine's constitution, the president can dissolve parliament if a new government is not formed within 30 days of the previous one collapsing.

"We consider this act to be anti-constitutional and senseless," the deputy chief of the parliament faction of Tymoshenko's party, Andrei Portnov, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

"What happened today was 100-percent provoked by the president, who is the one standing behind the coalition's collapse. We will not vote for any bill legalising these anti-constitutional acts of the president," Portnov said.

Consultations between Yushchenko and the parties' parliamentary chiefs, aimed at preventing the parliament's dissolution, started early on Wednesday, two hours before the president's departure for an official visit to Italy.

The move came after the reported failure of political parties to agree on a new coalition government and with Yushchenko extending negotiations for a few days beyond a Tuesday deadline.

The talks ended on Wednesday with no concrete results.

Party leaders involved in the meeting said President Yushchenko had given them a day to prepare legislation and release funds needed to hold an early election, Interfax said in a report.

Ahead of the meeting, Yushchenko said he would "give time" to parliament to "find a solution to the impasse," his office said in a statement.

Ukraine's political crisis raised concerns in the West that the former Soviet republic may abandon policies designed to strengthen ties with Washington and Brussels. - AFP/de