KIEV (AFP) -- Ukraine looked abroad for a breakthrough in its deepening political crisis as Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych asked Austria's chancellor to help resolve a power struggle in his country.

The pro-Russian prime minister has been locked in political battle with President Viktor Yushchenko, his pro-Western rival, who is standing by his order to dissolve parliament.

The parliament and government of Ukraine, formed after March 2006 parliamentary elections that brought Yanukovych to power, have voted to defy Yushchenko's orders to hold early elections.

"I have taken a decision to bring in international mediators: the Austrian chancellor -- Austria is a neutral country -- and well-known European legal experts," Yanukovych said.

If implementation of the president's order begins, "then we will turn to the presidents of neighboring countries, including Russia and Poland," Yanukovych said. On Friday the Russian Duma (parliament) said in a declaration that Yushchenko's order for a dissolution of parliament violates the constitution and "sends the most dangerous signal." Yushchenko stood by his ruling, telling an emergency session of the country's security council: "I will not take a single step to retract my order." The security council session ordered government and parliament to fulfill the president's orders and Yushchenko appealed to Yanukovych, his rival since the 2004 Orange Revolution, not to "stir up the population." In return, the officially dismissed parliament lashed out at Yushchenko in a declaration, accusing him of "provoking legal chaos in the country, pushing state and local authorities to carry out mass illegal activities."

Some 5,000 anti-Yushchenko protesters rallied on Independence Square in central Kiev, the site of the Orange Revolution mass demonstrations, as lawmakers lambasted the president from a stage set up in the square.

The protesters voiced continuing anger at Yushchenko's order to hold snap elections on May 27, just over a year after a parliamentary vote won by Yanukovych's Regions party.

"We want stability, we want calm," said protester Lyudmila Shalenko, 49, who had a Regions party flag wrapped around her shoulders.

"We will stand until the end," said another protester, Nina Antonovna, 65.

Yanukovych has urged the country's constitutional court to rule Yushchenko's order illegal but has said he will respect the court's decision. A court ruling is expected within a month.

Both men have sought to bolster their support in the power struggle.

Since issuing his order on Monday after months of tensions, the president has spoken with Ukrainian regional leaders and top European officials, including the EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

He also met with the leaders of pro-Western political parties, urging them to unite ahead of the elections that he has decreed and defend the constitution.

Yanukovych meanwhile has met foreign ambassadors in Kiev, reassured foreign investors about stability in Ukraine and addressed his supporters in the streets.

Ukrainian politics has been rocky since the Orange Revolution that saw Yushchenko win the presidency over Yanukovych after a fraudulent presidential vote initially granted to his rival was scrapped.

For many Yanukovych supporters, concentrated in the Russian-speaking east of the country, the current crisis is a way of getting back at pro-Western Yushchenko.

The crisis has severely weakened the president, whose popularity ratings have plummeted since his election victory. The wave of optimism that brought him to power has given way to widespread disillusionment.