Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's party said today it would form a coalition with other "Orange Revolution" liberal parties, ruling out a deal with a pro-Moscow party that came first last month's election.
A spokeswoman for Our Ukraine said its political council had agreed to team up with the Socialist party and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc, which came second in the parliamentary elections.
Ukraine's former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko
But the announcement made no mention of the burning question of who would be prime minister in a coalition government.
Ms Tymoshenko is pressing to become prime minister again, reviving a row with Mr Yushchenko who sacked her from this job last September.
The elections were the first to be held under new rules empowering parliament to name the premier, and such a coalition would hold a clear majority in the 450-seat Rada.
The agreement will leave the Regions Party of Viktor Yanukovich, who was defeated by Mr Yushchenko in the December 2004 "Orange Revolution", out of government despite its having come first in the elections with around 32 per cent.
The Regions Party said it would demand Mr Yanukovich heads the government - something unacceptable to the liberal parties' supporters who massed in giant street demonstrators in 2004 to stop him being president.