‘We Cannot Accept’ Ukraine Vote Result, Powell Says

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell rejected the results of Ukraine’s disputed presidential election Wednesday and warned there would be “consequences” for its relations with the West if officials did not address charges that the tally was fraudulent.

Increasing U.S. pressure on the former Soviet republic, Powell said, “We cannot accept this result as legitimate because it does not meet international standards and because there has not been an investigation of the numerous and credible reports of fraud and abuse.”

Powell said if the Ukrainian government did not address the alleged improprieties, “there will be consequences for our relationship, for Ukraine’s hopes for Euro-Atlantic integration and for individuals responsible for perpetrating fraud.”

The sharper tone of Powell’s remarks increased odds that, despite efforts to avoid it, the Bush administration was veering toward a collision with Russia, which has strongly backed the pro-Kremlin candidate and declared winner, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich.

Powell’s comments came soon after Ukraine’s Central Election Commission announced that Yanukovich had won Sunday’s election with 49.5% of the vote, while pro- Western candidate Viktor Yushchenko had 46.6%. The result contradicted exit polls, which indicated that Yushchenko was substantially ahead.

In a news conference at the State Department, Powell called for a “full review of the conduct of the election and the tallying of the election results.” He said it was time for Ukrainian officials “to decide whether they are on the side of democracy or not, whether they respect the will of the people, or not.”

Although Powell declined to be specific, his warning could harm Ukraine’s chances of joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or the European Union. It also could mean that some Ukrainian officials might be denied visas -- a serious penalty for elites in countries such as Ukraine, who value their ability to spend time in the West. Powell said the United States was not considering any action “at the moment” regarding $150 million a year in aid to Ukraine.

Powell’s warnings marked a change in tone in official U.S. pronouncements. On Tuesday, the White House said it was “deeply disturbed” by indications of fraud and urged a review but specified no consequences.

Meanwhile, European officials sought to increase their pressure on Ukraine in an effort to prevent Yanukovich from officially taking office.

Poland and the Netherlands put in motion plans to send emissaries to Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder discussed the situation with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, who before Sunday’s runoff had made plain his support for Yanukovich and who had congratulated him even before the election panel declared him the winner. Officials of the EU and NATO also called for a review of the results.

A senior U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the administration did not know enough about the balloting to say for certain that Yushchenko deserved to be declared the winner. But the widespread reports of fraud and intimidation “leave open that possibility,” the official said.

“There’s sufficient doubt that you can only be confident in results that have been investigated thoroughly,” he said.

The official acknowledged that the tone of Powell’s comments differed from what the administration said previously, although he said that “the substance is not that different.” The administration had made a decision to “raise the profile” of the issue, the official said.

Experts said the administration was applying heavy diplomatic force on the issue, but warned that it could backfire.

“Powell is putting a lot of pressure on them,” said Charles A. Kupchan, director of European studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “I don’t think he’s overstepping his bounds, but he’s going right up to that red line.”

Kupchan said the United States needed to “tread a fine line,” because pushing too hard for one outcome in Ukraine would risk “an unraveling of political stability” in the country, and could sharpen the conflict between the western side of the country, which is oriented toward Europe and the U.S., and the Russian-oriented east.

Although Washington and Moscow have competed in the past for influence with countries on Russia’s border, that rivalry has not led to “head-butting” with Putin that could disrupt cooperation in other areas, Kupchan said. “But this is likely to occur in this case,” he said.

The senior administration official, however, contended that there had been no clash. He said Powell spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei V. Lavrov by telephone Wednesday, “and there was no head-butting.”

Jeremy Shapiro, director of research at the Brookings Institution’s Center on the United States and Europe, said he found Powell’s strong language surprising, given that the United States has sought to minimize clashes with Russia over the former Soviet republics.

The administration’s priority has been to maintain Russian cooperation in the global fight against terrorism, as well as on other issues, such as the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs, Shapiro said.

“It’s strong language, given that the United States hasn’t been opposing the extension of Russian influence in these countries, except Georgia,” he said.

Powell’s bold comments also come two months before he steps down. He may be “feeling a freedom to say what he wants to say,” Shapiro said.

Meanwhile in Washington, diplomats from the European Union, the Czech Republic and Poland expressed alarm about the election results and voiced support for the pro-Yushchenko demonstrators who have filled the streets of Kiev.

Boguslaw Winid, deputy ambassador of Poland, said Ukraine’s international standing would suffer until there was a credible outcome of the election.

“An effective and peaceful resolution of the election results could help Ukraine restore its rightful place in the international community,” Winid said.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter’s national security advisor, said the outcome would have far-reaching consequences for the future of Russia and U.S.-Russian relations.

“We cannot separate the issue from Russia,” said Brzezinski, now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

If Yushchenko wins, he said, Russia will have “no choice but to turn to the West.... The stakes are truly of historic proportions.”

But an administration official called the fight one of “democracy and civil society” -- not simply East-West ties.

“It is not up to us to make this an East-West fight,” said Daniel Fried, senior director for European and Eurasian affairs at the National Security Council.

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Times staff writer Emma Schwartz contributed to this report.