KIEV, April 28 – Viktor Yanukovych, the leader of the opposition Regions Party, on Tuesday said that constitutional talks between his group and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko have stumbled over undisclosed differences.

He said the Regions Party was ready to help pull the country out of economic crisis by providing the “skeleton” of the new government, but added that both groups lacked “mutual understanding.”

“Theoretically, it was possible to create the new coalition, but under condition that there is the mutual understanding, which is not there,” Yanukovych said in an interview with Channel 5.

The comment is the first direct confirmation that the secret talks between Yanukovych and Tymoshenko have been underway. Media reported a week ago that the groups had resumed the talks seeking to amend the constitution and change the way the next president is elected.

“We have been meeting each other constantly and for a long time,” Yanukovych said. “But there are a lot of differences that are impossible to overcome.”

“The discussions that we have persuaded me that practically there is no hope,” Yanukovych said. “I don’t see the possibility of overcoming the differences for now.”

Segodnia, a daily newspaper owned by Rinat Akhmetov, the key financial sponsor of the Regions Party, reported last week that Tymoshenko and Yanukovych had made an important progress in the talks, including agreement on election of the next president in Parliament as opposed to the nation-wide vote.

Another newspaper, Ukrayina Moloda, later reported that Tymoshenko had agreed to let Regions Party nominate all key finance and economic positions in the government, but had refused to surrender the post of the prime minister.

Yanukovych said he did not believe the Tymoshenko government was able to successfully combat the economic crisis, and indicated that the Regions Party needed to dominate the new government.

“We were ready to assume responsibility under one condition that the Regions Party would provide the skeleton of the government,” Yanukovych said.

“We wanted to help the country, the government,” Yanukovych said, adding that the party has submitted its anti-crisis measures to Tymoshenko. “We are not asking, we are demanding” the implementation of the measures, he said. (tl/ez)