WASHINGTON, Nov 24: US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Wednesday the United States did not accept the results of the disputed presidential election in Ukraine as legitimate and called for immediate action.

"If the Ukrainian government does not act immediately and responsibly there will be consequences for our relationship," Mr Powell told reporters. Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko on Wednesday refused to recognize the election of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, calling the decision proclaiming his victory illegal.

"The illegal decision of the electoral commission has placed Ukraine on the verge of civil conflict," Mr Yushchenko told tens of thousands of opposition supporters in the capital Kiev.

Mr Yushchenko also called for a nationwide general strike. "The committee of national salvation announces a political strike in the whole of Ukraine." Pressed on what punitive action, if any, would be taken, Mr Powell said: "At the moment we're not taking any action. We want to see what the ultimate results are."

Mr Powell said it was time for Ukraine's leaders to decide if they were on the side of democracy and respect the will of the people in addressing problems from last weekend's election.

The former Soviet republic's electoral authorities on Wednesday declared Moscow-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich the victor of Sunday's presidential election run-off, which the opposition and international observers say was marred by fraud.

COURT APPEAL: The opposition said it would ask the Supreme Court to annul the election result. "First of all, tomorrow we will lodge a serious and well-argumented appeal with the supreme court," an opposition leader Yulia Timoshenko told a crowd in Kiev.

"Knowing in advance that the supreme court is not independent, but we will try to convince it and to force it to see that in Ukraine there is the people and the constitution," Mr Timoshenko added. A spokeswoman for the supreme court said earlier that "the opposition has the right of course to contest the result".

ANNAN: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Wednesday urged parties in Ukraine to show restraint and stick to democratic principles, but did not comment on the conduct of the disputed presidential election.

"The secretary general is concerned about developments in Ukraine, where a tense situation has emerged following the run-off presidential election," his spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters.

"While the United Nations is not in a position to comment on the conduct of the election, the secretary general believes a credible electoral process is critical in overcoming the current impasse. -Reuters/AFP