Outgoing President Leonid Kuchma signaled a shift in position Monday, backing a new election to resolve a standoff that threatens to tear the nation apart.

With mass protests paralysing government, Finance Minister Mykola Azarov said the banking system was strong enough to weather the chaos but the central bank warned there was a run on bank deposits. It pledged to meet increased cash demands.

Supporters of challenger Viktor Yushchenko again began gathering in the center of the capital Kiev, white after heavy overnight snowfalls. Their early morning numbers appeared smaller than in previous days, but the barricades blocking the main thoroughfare remained intact.

While the Supreme Court meets for a second day to consider electoral fraud allegations by Yushchenko, parliament will discuss the state of the economy and demands in eastern regions for autonomy.

Buoyed by international pressure, tens of thousands of Yushchenko's supporters surged through central Kiev last week to back his Supreme Court challenge against authorities declaring Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich winner of the Nov. 21 ballot.

Angry demonstrators in eastern Ukraine, the prime minister's home base which sees its future linked to Russia, denounced efforts to overturn the official result.

Kuchma's comments marked a concession to Yushchenko, whom he had previously criticized for whipping up mass street protests with charges that he was cheated of the presidency by fraud.

"If we really want to preserve peace and consensus and build this just democratic society, of which we speak so much but have failed to carry out in a legal way, let us have new elections," Kuchma told regional leaders, with Yanukovich present.