President Viktor Yushchenko said today he was offering more time to Ukraine's political parties to resolve
a crisis over the "Orange" coalition threatening the government.
"I will give you this time," Mr Yushchenko's website said he told a meeting of parliamentary leaders this morning at his secretariat in Kiev.
"It is important after today's consultations to take an initiative so that leaders in parliament can find a way out of the stalemate."
Ukrainian news agencies said the president left for Italy after the talks.
Participants in the meeting, which lasted no more than an hour, suggested Mr Yushchenko had abandoned hope of forming a coalition and would issue a decree dissolving parliament and calling a new election.
Mr Yushchenko has paid scant heed to calls from his estranged political ally, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, to patch up differences and reinstate a parliamentary coalition linked to the 2004 "Orange Revolution".
Yesterday, he met allies from his Our Ukraine party who later said they believed a presidential decree would be issued within 24 hours to dissolve parliament, sending Ukraine into its third parliamentary election in as many years.
Mr Yushchenko and Ms Tymoshenko have been at odds since joining forces in the mass rallies that swept the president to office in 2004.
The "Orange" coalition in parliament collapsed last month when Our Ukraine quit an alliance with Mr Tymoshenko's party.