Ukraine's political crisis deepened last night after three days of street protests and political drama threatened to cause a diplomatic rift between Russia and the US.
The opposition leader, Viktor Yushchenko, declared himself the winner of Sunday's presidential run-off against the Kremlin-backed prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, by swearing himself in after an emergency parliamentary session. The EU and the US tacitly backed Mr Yushchenko's claims by stepping up pressure for a review of the election, which western observers have said was seriously flawed. "The US is deeply concerned by extensive and credible indications of fraud," said a White House spokeswoman.
But President Vladimir Putin of Russia, visiting Portugal, branded criticism of the election "inadmissible" as there were still no complete official results. Ukraine did not need to be lectured, he said.
The US summoned the Russian ambassador to explain why they had endorsed a victory for Mr Yanukovich before the count was completed. In turn, a Russian official lashed out at what he called "unprecedented interference" in domestic affairs.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/ukraine/story/0,15569,1358199,00.html