KIEV, April 4 ??“ President Viktor Yushchenko on Wednesday met leaders of several small pro-Western parties that seek to create a major pro-presidential and pro-Western bloc ahead of the early election due next month.

Yushchenko met Yuriy Kostenko, the leader of Ukrainian People??™s Party, Boris Tarasiuk, a former foreign minister and the leader of the Rukh party, Mykola Katerynchuk, the leader of European Platform, and other leaders.