Ukraine Leader Drops Vote Challenge

MOSCOW — Prime Minister Yulia V. Tymoshenko of Ukraine effectively conceded the presidential election on Saturday by withdrawing her legal challenge, saying that she did not believe that she would get a fair hearing.

Her decision clears the way for the inauguration on Thursday of the winner, Viktor F. Yanukovich, the opposition leader, capping a comeback for him. Mr. Yanukovich was humiliated in the 2004 Orange Revolution, when he was criticized as a Kremlin pawn who did not want Ukraine to become more democratic and pro-Western.

Mr. Yanukovich has sought to refashion his image in recent years, vowing to improve relations with both the European Union and Russia.

Speaking Saturday at the court in Kiev that was hearing her appeal, Ms. Tymoshenko was defiant, and her party said it would boycott Mr. Yanukovich’s inauguration.

“Sooner or later, an honest prosecutor’s office and an honest court will assess that Yanukovich was not elected president of Ukraine, and that the will of the people was fabricated,” she said.

The end of her challenge is expected to bring about a relatively peaceful transfer of power in Ukraine, a little more than five years after the mass protests known as the Orange Revolution broke out over a disputed presidential election in 2004.

Still, Ms. Tymoshenko, an Orange leader, remains prime minister, and has rejected Mr. Yanukovich’s demand that she resign. He intends to put together a coalition in Parliament to dismiss her or, if that fails, to call parliamentary elections, which could create more political instability.

Mr. Yanukovich’s aides say he now has to try to unite the country by reaching out to Orange voters, who are concentrated in the Ukrainian-speaking western part of the country and tend to view him as a Soviet-style party boss. Mr. Yanukovich is from the east, where Russian is the primary language.

At the same time, Mr. Yanukovich also wants to mend ties with the Kremlin.

On Saturday, after Ms. Tymoshenko abandoned her challenge, President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia called Mr. Yanukovich, and the two men agreed that Mr. Yanukovich would visit Moscow in early March, the Kremlin said.

Under the current Ukrainian president, Viktor A. Yushchenko, an Orange leader who lost his bid for another term, relations with Russia had grown so tense that the Russians would not send an ambassador to Kiev.

Russia was particularly angered by Mr. Yushchenko’s plan to seek NATO membership for Ukraine, saying that such a move would infringe upon Russia’s zone of influence.

Mr. Yanukovich has opposed NATO membership for Ukraine.

Ms. Tymoshenko had refused to concede the Feb. 7 runoff election, which she lost by 3.5 percentage points, asserting that Mr. Yanukovich had won only through widespread fraud. Mr. Yanukovich’s aides called her accusations phony and desperate.

European election monitors called the election honest and fair, and many world leaders, including President Obama, have congratulated Mr. Yanukovich.

In announcing her legal challenge, Ms. Tymoshenko had promised not to organize demonstrations.

As it began evaluating Ms. Tymoshenko’s case on Friday, the Higher Administrative Court in Kiev rejected her petition to scrutinize documents from election districts in the Crimean Peninsula, a Yanukovich stronghold, and also to question election and law-enforcement officials.

On Saturday, Ms. Tymoshenko announced that she saw no point in continuing, suggesting that the judges were biased against her.

“It became clear that the court is not out to establish the truth,” she said.

She also attacked the court for not permitting the proceedings to be broadcast.

The court did not directly respond to her remarks but agreed to cancel her appeal.

Ms. Tymoshenko earned fame for her charismatic speeches in the Orange Revolution, which occurred after supporters of Mr. Yanukovich were accused of stealing the 2004 presidential elections.

A court threw out the results, and Mr. Yushchenko was victorious in a new election over Mr. Yanukovich.

Ms. Tymoshenko had charged that Mr. Yanukovich had again relied on dirty tricks this year. But analysts said she had little chance in court, given the margin of Mr. Yanukovich’s victory and the election monitors’ assessment.