KIEV (Agencies) -- Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Kiev Wednesday to demonstrate against President Viktor Yushchenko's order to dissolve parliament that has plunged the country into political turmoil, AFP reported.

Some 3,000 demonstrators, many waving the blue flags of pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's Regions party, gathered on Independence Square as lawmakers met in defiance of Yushchenko's ruling.

Crisis talks Tuesday between Yushchenko and Yanukovych failed to yield a compromise between the two rivals, even after Ukraine's government and parliament voted to defy the president's orders.

The presidential office said in a statement that Yushchenko had informed the European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana of his intention to hold snap elections.

But Yanukovych said Yushchenko had made "a fatal mistake" in issuing an order dissolving parliament on Monday after months of political impasse.

On Tuesday, Yanukovych called on the president to rescind the dissolution order for the sake of stability in the country and threatened otherwise to force an early presidential election.

Yushchenko and Yanukovych faced off as presidential candidates in 2004 -- a duel won by Yushchenko after the mass protests of the Orange Revolution against Yanukovych's rigged election victory.

Yushchenko ordered the dissolution of parliament and snap parliamentary elections for May 27 in a dramatic televised address on Monday that followed months of political upheaval in Ukraine since elections last year.

At a stormy cabinet meeting following the parliament vote, Defense Minister Anatoly Grytsenko, a Yushchenko supporter, broke with the rest of the cabinet to back the president, saying the Ukrainian army would follow his orders.

Anti-Yushchenko activists have warned about the possibility of the use of force but the president ruled this out on Tuesday, saying in a statement that his "conflict" with Yanukovych was purely political in nature.

Parliamentary elections last year changed the political landscape in Ukraine, however, handing considerable power to Yanukovych and giving his pro-Moscow coalition control of 250 of the 450 seats in Ukraine's parliament.

The stand-off between Yushchenko and Yanukovych supporters also reflects deep divisions between Ukraine's predominantly Russian-speaking industrial east and the Ukrainian-speaking agricultural west.

Also many Ukrainians believe Yushchenko has failed to live up to his promises of a better economic future for the country and has needlessly antagonized Russia, Ukraine's main trading partner. -------------EU calls for political stability in Ukraine

The European Union (EU) on Tuesday called for political stability in Ukraine, Xinhua reported.

"After months of rising tensions in the country, it is of highest importance that political stability be re-established in Ukraine," said Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU commissioner for external relations and European neighborhood policy, in a statement. "We call upon all political forces concerned to cooperate and find a peaceful way to defuse the current crisis, based on the respect for the principles of democracy and rule of law."

The EU has a strong interest in a stable and prosperous Ukraine, which moves forward on the path of political and economic reform, she said.

Ferrero-Waldner added that the European Commission is closely following political developments in the country.

Yushchenko issued a decree late Monday to dissolve parliament, but the House and the cabinet said the decree was unconstitutional.

The European Commission did not comment on the positions of either side. ----------Germany urges "moderation" to solve Ukraine crisis

Germany, which holds the rotating EU presidency, called on all parties in Ukraine on Tuesday to show "moderation" to solve the political crisis.

"Moderation and a willingness to cooperate" is required to "settle the current differences," said the German EU presidency in a statement.

The relations between the EU and Ukraine should not be adversely affected, it added. --------------Polish PM concerned over situation in Ukraine

Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski told journalists Tuesday he was concerned over what was going on in Ukraine.

He expressed the hope that parliamentary elections will be held in Ukraine. Earlier in the same day, in a special statement on the situation in Ukraine sent to PAP, the prime minister assured that "Poland refers with understanding to the difficult process of building democratic pillars of the Ukrainian state." Kaczynski stressed that he was "following the current political developments in Ukraine with great attention and understanding of their importance."

"Based on Poland's experience, the prime minister trusts that the Ukrainian Nation will find a way to solve their problems through agreement and dialogue of all patriotic political forces," reads the statement.