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TYMOSHENKO SAYS HER BLOC WON'T JOIN 'MISHMASH' COALITION IN UKRAINE... Yuliya Tymoshenko, leader of the eponymous political bloc, told a reopened session of the Verkhovna Rada on June 14 that the recently deadlocked talks about the restoration of an Orange Revolution coalition (see "RFE/RL Newsline," June 13, 2006) were used as a "smokescreen" by Our Ukraine, which in Tymoshenko's opinion wants to conclude a coalition deal with the Party of Regions, Ukrainian media reported. Tymoshenko was commenting on a statement by Our Ukraine on June 13, in which the pro-presidential party appealed to all parliamentary forces to sit at a negotiating table. According to Our Ukraine, the coalition talks reached an impasse because the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc and the Socialist Party "have put their ambitions regarding the key portfolios above the will of the Ukrainian people." "[The Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc] will not agree to any coalition cooperation in such a mishmash format, which will include the Party of Regions, Our Ukraine, and some others," Tymoshenko stressed in the parliament on June 14. JM

....AS MOROZ PROLONGS HOPE FOR ORANGE REVOLUTION ALLIANCE... Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz said in the Verkhovna Rada on June 14 that his party will give up its aspiration to obtain the post of parliamentary speaker if this move prolongs talks on the creation of a coalition of democratic forces with the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine, Ukrainian media reported. "We are ready to give up this claim, but on condition that the distribution of all [other] posts will be made proportionally, beginning from raion administration heads and ending with ministers," Moroz said. He added that the Socialist Party will not agree to a comeback of the "Kuchmist power system" in which, according to Moroz, a party with public support of 6 percent "fully controlled the country." The coalition talks of the Orange Revolution allies reportedly broke down because Our Ukraine would not agreed to Moroz's wish to obtain the post of speaker. JM

....AND OUR UKRAINE KEEPS ALL OPTIONS OPEN. Our Ukraine leader Roman Bezsmertnyy called on deputies in the Verkhovna Rada session hall on June 14 to find a compromise in creating a ruling coalition, Ukrainian media reported. "We should not scare each other but look for a compromise," Bezsmertnyy said, after noting that the legislature has only 10 more days for forming a ruling majority. Bezsmertnyy did not respond to Moroz's proposal to resume talks among the Orange Revolution allies after the latter abandoned his aspiration to become parliament speaker. Meanwhile, Party of Regions parliamentary caucus head Mykola Azarov said in the Verkhovna Rada that his party is ready to negotiate the formation of a ruling majority. "When the country is on the brink of catastrophe, [party] leaders should sit at a negotiating table with everyone who is ready to assume responsibility for the country's future," Azarov added. JM