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WESTERN PROPAGANDA OF YUSHCHENKO'S LEGITIMACY FREES UP MOSCOW'S HANDS

MOSCOW, December 3 (RIA Novosti's Vasily Tolkachev) - The unilateral attempts by the West to name opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko Ukrainian President beyond legitimate procedures are provocative and prompt Moscow to "any counteractions," President of the Effective Policy foundation Gleb Pavlovsky said at a RIA Novosti press conference.

According to the political analyst, the West's participation in the Ukrainian political campaign may be regarded as the first demonstration of the united Europe's flag, not only in Russia's respect. "Europe seeks to act as a force, which created and then settled a world crisis," Mr. Pavlovsky stressed. Meanwhile, the European Union is not going to pay costs of its operation in Ukraine. He is convinced that Russia should not do this, either.

However, Gleb Pavlovsky urged not to exaggerate Russia's role in the Ukrainian elections. The functions of Moscow's experts were restricted to consultations by the Ukrainian mandate. The decisions of the pro-governmental candidate were dictated by incumbent President Leonid Kuchma.

While Russian experts were giving consultations, their foreign colleagues were preparing something different. "We saw preparations for mass disorders and saw that the Ukrainian authorities did not notice that," Mr. Pavlovsky said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin supported Viktor Yanukovich not as an independent politician but as a centrist candidate from the Kuchma coalition. Russian took its political platform as it was and did not participate in its formation. "However, this position may be revised today," Gleb Pavlovsky noted.

In his words, it is "much cheaper" for Russia to give up conservatism, become a revolutionary center of Eastern Europe and sponsor opposition movements. However, Russia is interested, above all, in peaceful, constitutional and compromise crisis settlements. "An optimal solution implies a procedure. Any other solution is an attempt to take Kuchma's power by force," the political analyst emphasized.

In his opinion, a new election is the best scenario for Ukraine. But in this case the crisis will be prolonged.

"Regardless of the outcome, Ukraine will stop being a stability donor in the region and will turn into a security consumer," Mr. Pavlovsky said. He is convinced that temporary cooling of Russian-western relations is inevitable.

According to Gleb Pavlovsky, the vulnerability of the Ukrainian political system for foreign interferences proves the importance of the power vertical consolidation in Russia. Against this background Vladimir Putin's reforms seem to be a mild measure, which should rule out destructive revolutionary trends in Russia.

"The political system needs no procedures decreasing the defense potential of democracy, as it was in Ukraine's case," Mr. Pavlovsky noted. In this connection he deems it possible to cancel any elections in Russia, excluding presidential elections.