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Kuchma, Opposition Leaders Agree to Negotiations

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Ukraine's opposition party has agreed to hold talks with President Leonid Kuchma to resolve the crisis over Sunday's disputed presidential elections.

Mr. Kuchma is calling on all political forces in the former Soviet republic to immediately enter into talks.

The appeal came after about 200,000 opposition supporters marched on the presidential office in Kiev to demand that their candidate - Viktor Yushchenko - be declared the winner of the election. Official preliminary results showed the pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich winning the vote.

Mr. Kuchma, a backer of the prime minister, called the protests a "political farce" that he says could lead to "unforseeable consequences."

U.S. and European observers reported indications of extensive voter fraud in Sunday's election. Russian President Vladimir Putin called European criticism inadmissible because final results have not been announced.

Some information for this story provided by AFP and Reuters.

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