KIEV, Dec. 8 ??“ President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych on Friday failed to reach an agreement on whether Foreign Minister Boris Tarasiuk, Yushchenko??™s pro-Western ally, should stay in the government.

Parliament, led by pro-Russian government coalition, recently voted to dismiss Tarasiuk, but a court had suspended the dismissal. Yushchenko later issued a decree re-assuring Tarasiuk??™s authority as the minister, but that had been challenged by the Justice Ministry.