Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma on Thursday arrived in Moscow for urgent talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Ukraine's political crisis triggered by last month's disputed presidential election.

The two leaders will hold "political consultations," the Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted Kuchma's press office as saying.

The visit came after Ukraine's presidential rivals -- Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich and opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko-- agreed Wednesday evening to set up a joint expert group to end the election crisis.

Kuchma, who supported the pro-Russian Yanukovich, proposed holding an entirely new presidential election, not just a re-run of the disputed second round.

Putin sent a congratulatory message to Yanukovich on his election and repeatedly accused the West of stoking tension in the former Soviet republic.

Though declared winner of the Nov. 21 vote, Yanukovich cannot be inaugurated until the Supreme Court rules on an opposition demand that the election result be invalidated.

On Thursday, tens of thousands of opposition supporters gathered in Independence Square in central Kiev to watch the televised hearing of the case, which started on Monday.

Yushchenko's supporters ended a week-long blockade of government and parliament buildings Wednesday after the two opposing camps reached a compromise, but hundreds were still protesting outside the Supreme Court in wintry weather.

"This is the first time in the history of Ukraine that a hearing of the Supreme Court has been broadcast live," said Dr. Oleksiy Syvak from the international law department of Kiev University.

As the election deadlock dragged on into its eleventh day, public transportation and business returned to normal in Kiev and government officials have gone back to work.