KIEV, March 13 ??“ Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych on Tuesday reacted angrily to an ultimatum from two opposition groups that had demanded the government to stop challenging President Viktor Yushchenko??™s pro-Western foreign policy.

Yanukovych warned the opposition groups that their mounting pressure on the government will not yield any results, suggesting that the confrontation between the groups and the government will probably continue.

???All attempts to march on Kiev and attempts to destabilize the situation will end up badly for those who organize the marches,??? Yanukovych said. ???I am saying this with confidence.???

Yanukovych??™s comments came hours after Our Ukraine and the group led by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko had walked out of parliamentary session in an attempt to put growing pressure on the government.

???I will never let being pushed,??? Yanukovych said. ???That??™s why there will be no more the year of 2004. It??™s a history now,??? he said in reference to uprising against election fraud in November 2004 that had forced his resignation from the post of the prime minister.

The two opposition groups, numbering more than 200 lawmakers in the 450-seat Parliament, demanded the coalition to stop challenging Yushchenko??™s pro-Western foreign policy. The opposition also urged the coalition to work with the president to amend the constitution to avert the looming constitutional crisis and to implement 15 other demands.

The coalition rejected the ultimatum Tuesday morning forcing the opposition groups to walk out of the sessions indefinitely. The opposition lawmakers have been seeking to start campaigning throughout the regions with calls for the dismissal of Parliament and the need for early election.

Most of people do not support the idea of the early election, according to FOM-Ukraine polling agency. Some 45.5% of Ukrainians believe the early election would not solve the conflict between Yushchenko and Yanukovych, while 18.6% believe it will, the agency said.

Yushchenko late Monday backed the demands from the opposition groups saying that the government coalition has been ignoring urgent issues of Ukraine??™s national security, such as the stalled reform of the housing sector. Instead, Yushchenko said, the coalition has been seeking to concentrate more powers in the battle with the president that may lead to a sharp confrontation.

Yanukovych spoke with Yushchenko by phone late Tuesday and may meet the president on Wednesday to discuss the appointment of Volodymyr Ohryzko, a pro-Western diplomat, as the next foreign minister.

The coalition rejected the nomination last month suggesting that a pro-Russian diplomat would have a much better chance to get approved on the post.

The escalating standoff between the president and the prime minister may trigger a major turbulence as some opposition leaders, such as former Internal Affairs Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, have been planning to start the protest march on Kiev later this year.

Police troops, controlled by the coalition, have been recently stepping up training and massively purchasing anti-riot gear apparently to deal with the protest marches. (tl/ez)