Poland hopes to mediate Ukraine election crisis

Wedged between troubled Ukraine and the West, Poland has plunged into the disputed Ukrainian presidential election in an attempt to mediate – a sign of anxiety over the prospect of instability and rising Russian influence so close to home.

President Aleksander Kwasniewski said yesterday that he would head to Kiev at the request of Ukraine’s President, Leonid Kuchma, to help broker talks between the government and the opposition led by Viktor Yushchenko, who says he was robbed of victory by a Moscow-favoured candidate in Sunday’s runoff vote.