Ukraine talks on bumpy stretch

The country, meanwhile, edged towards a break-up as a powerful eastern region supporting the Moscow-backed Prime Minister on Sunday set a referendum for December 5 on forming a republic within a federal Ukrainian state.

The decision, at a rally near the Russian border, raised the temperature in a national feud between backers of PM Viktor Yanukovich and his liberal Opposition rival Viktor Yushchenko over the results of a run-off election.

In Warsaw, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, a pivotal regional figure who has credibility on both sides in Ukraine, said a break-up was a real threat. He said Yushchenko was likely to become next President.

Yanukovich, attending a packed meeting in Severodonetsk, did not endorse the decision by delegates to a regional conference from Russian-speaking parts of the East and South in favour of a referendum ‘‘to determine the region’s status’’.

Asked if he supported the idea, Yanukovich replied: ‘‘No’’. But he said protests by pro-Yushchenko demonstrators paralysing Kiev had pushed Ukraine to the edge of disaster. ‘‘Today we are on the brink of catastrophe. There is one step to the edge,’’ he declared, urging supporters not to take any radical action that would lead to bloodshed.

In Kiev, Yushchenko, addressing tens of thousands of supporters, accused authorities of playing ‘‘the dangerous card of separatism’’. ‘‘Those who are calling for separatism are committing crimes and will definitely receive severe punishment,’’ he declared.