Ukraine president Victor Yushchenko's airplane, a Tu-134 similar to the one pictured, was forced to make a emergency landing at Boryspil International Airport on Oct. 2. KYIV, Ukraine (AP) - The Ukrainian president's plane was forced to make an emergency landing in the capital while he was flying to the country's west, a government spokeswoman said Oct. 2.

Spokeswoman Larisa Mudrak said President Viktor Yushchenko had been traveling to Lviv when his plane experienced unspecified technical problems.

She says the Tu-134 plane was forced to return to Kyiv and make an emergency landing Thursday at the capital's main airport, Boryspil.

The president and his delegation resumed their trip aboard another plane.

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's press service claimed that Yushchenko and his delegation commandeered a plane that was to take her to Moscow, forcing her to seek another aircraft; she was able to leave for Moscow about an hour behind schedule. But Mudrak said the president used a reserve plane designated for his use.

Tymoshenko and Yushchenko were allies in the 2004 Orange Revolution, the mass protests that forced the annulment of fraudulent presidential elections and powered Yushchenko to win a rerun. But they have consistently jockeyed for influence since then.

Their alliance fractured last month, threatening the uneasy coalition government they had cobbled together, but Tymoshenko on Wednesday said she would accept his terms to revive cooperation.