KIEV, Dec. 26 ??“ Tensions were set to rise between President Viktor Yushchenko and the government over Foreign Minister Boris Tarasiuk after a top government official had insisted that the minister had been fired.

Mykola Azarov, the first deputy prime minister and finance minister, said the government insists that Tarasiuk has been fired by Parliament earlier this month.

???Tarasiuk is not the foreign minister for us. That??™s absolutely,??? Azarov said.

Tarasiuk is an architect of Ukraine??™s pro-Western foreign policy, which has been irritating pro-Russian government of Yanukovych. The pro-government coalition has persistently asked Yushchenko to replace the minister.

After Yushchenko refused to do so, Parliament had voted to dismiss Tarasiuk, a move that the president had called illegal. A court later suspended Parliament??™s resolution dismissing Tarasiuk, while the president had signed a decree re-assuring Tarasiuk??™s authority.

Azarov??™s comments come as a surprise as Tarasiuk, in the capacity of the minister, has been joining the meeting between Yushchenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.

Following the meeting, Tarasiuk said that he had never had any disagreements with Yanukovych with analysts speculating that Yushchenko may have had a secret deal with the government to keep Tarasiuk on the post.

Yushchenko signed the government??™s 2007 budget on Friday amid speculations that the government has agreed in exchange to not prevent Tarasiuk from joining Cabinet meetings.

???Today there are no legal grounds not to doubt the legal status of Minister Tarasiuk,??? Viktor Baloha, Yushchenko??™s chief of staff, said Tuesday in a statement.

Baloha warned the government and Parliament that any further pressure on Tarasiuk may lead to the political crisis suggesting that the development may even trigger early election.

???Without the foreign minister, the government cannot conduct a full fledged foreign policy,??? Baloha said. ???Insisting that Tarasiuk is not legitimate, the government provokes recognition of its work defective and not legitimate.???

Baloha said that it is the president, not the prime minister, who must be allowed to initiate dismissal of the foreign minister. He also said that Yushchenko continues to support Tarasiuk.

???Until President Viktor Yushchenko changes his mind, Boris Tarasiuk will continue to be the full fledged foreign minister,??? Baloha said. (nr/ez)