Via Reuters: Ukraine President Bows to Pressure, Backs New Vote

“If we really want to preserve peace and consensus and build this just democratic society, of which we speak so much but have failed to carry out in a legal way, let us have new elections,” Kuchma said in a statement.

Kuchma signaled a shift in his position away from backing his ally, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, as the official winner of the Nov. 21 poll, as the Supreme Court sat to try to resolve the election stalemate.

His comments marked a concession to liberal presidential challenger Viktor Yushchenko whom he has attacked for bringing tens of thousands of supporters out on to the streets with his charges that he was cheated out of the election by mass fraud.

Kuchma said he himself would not run in any new poll. By referring to a new poll, it suggested that Kuchma wanted a completely fresh set of elections and not simply another run-off between Yanukovich and Yushchenko.

Yushchenko says he wants a repeat only of the second round run-off, which Yanukovich officially won.

That might be a good compromise: a whole new vote rather than just a new second round.