KIEV, Feb. 20 ??“ Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych on Tuesday warned of ???very tough??? standoff within Ukraine if President Viktor Yushchenko moves ahead with plans to amend the country??™s constitution through a referendum.

???This is a dangerous way,??? Yanukovych said. ???First of all, it??™s dangerous for the presidential office and for the president himself.??? ???I wouldn??™t want things to get that far, but there will be a new round of confrontation, a very tough one.???

The comment is the toughest wording yet from Yanukovych over Yushchenko??™s proposals to amend the constitution in order to avert the looming constitutional crisis in the country.

The crisis is looming large in Ukraine amid a growing dispute between the pro-Russian government and the pro-Western president over some of their constitutional powers following controversial amendments enacted on Jan. 1, 2006.

The amendments shifted many presidential powers, such as the right to appoint and to fire ministers, to the pro-government coalition in Parliament. Although the amendments allow the president to nominate foreign and defense ministers, a recent controversial bill approved by the coalition at some point allows the coalition to nominate both ministers.

The situation may lead to the coalition seeking to approve its own foreign minister to end the pro-Western foreign policy course, a move that would most likely be challenged by Yushchenko.

Yushchenko has been repeatedly calling for debates over the new amendments that would ensure the presidential powers and control over the country??™s foreign and defense policies.

However, the coalition has been persistently rejecting the calls, while the Communist Party, a small and vehemently pro-Russian group in the government, has even called for canceling the post of the president.

The coalition??™s refusal to debate the amendments forced Yushchenko to suggest the plan that would anticipate approval of the new amendments at a referendum.

But Yanukovych??™s sharp criticism of the plan underscores a powerful opposition that would probably postpone it indefinitely, analysts said. This will probably leave the Constitutional Court to rule over the next 12 months on most of disputed issues, analysts said.

However, the delay in ending the dispute may de-facto benefit Yanukovych, who believes he has already gotten extra powers to define foreign and defense policies, analysts said. (tl/ez)