Ukraine: President agrees to meet warring rivals

Out-going Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has agreed to meet presidential election rivals Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych today in the presence of European envoys, a EU official said.

The meeting will include EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus, said Christina Gallach, Solana’s spokeswoman.

Yushchenko had previously said he would only negotiate with Kuchma, and that the main condition for holding talks was the president’s acknowledgement that the presidential election was invalid.