President Meets With Foes, Refuses to Quit

Ukrainian President Leonid D. Kuchma bowed to pressure and met with opposition leaders who spent the night in the corridors of his offices, but he bluntly rejected their demands for him to quit.

Under pressure from Washington over allegations that he approved the sale of a radar system to Iraq, Kuchma agreed to have parliament investigate the charges. He has repeatedly denied arms sales in violation of U.N. sanctions.

But he refused the lawmakers’ written demand to step down or call new elections, despite a rally this week by more than 5,000 people seeking his ouster.