MOSCOW, Nov. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament, Wednesday expressed support to Ukraine's pro-Moscow prime minister who is in the center of a political crisis over alleged election fraud.

    The State Duma also urged Ukraine's legislators to resolve the political crisis which erupted Monday over allegations of vote rigging in Ukraine's presidential elections.

    "We are addressing our colleagues, the people's deputies of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada (Parliament), to show their state wisdom and political responsibility and do everything in their power to settle the crisis in the interests of the Ukrainian people," an Interfax report quoted the statement as saying.

    A statement released by the Duma said it hopes order will be restored in Ukraine without delay and that the country's authorities, political figures and people will resolve the crisis without any foreign interference.

    "Any steps aimed at seizing power would result in criminal punishment in any country in the world," said the statement.

    Only the Central Elections Commission has the right to announce the elections' results, said the statement which added that "any pressure on the Central Elections Commission should be ruled out."

    "The State Duma wants the conflict situation to be dealt with by purely legal methods and in compliance with the Ukrainian Constitution and electoral legislation," the Russian legislators said in the statement which the Duma will send to the Russian and Ukrainian presidents and to the Ukrainian parliament.

    Ukraine has been in chaos since Monday when tens of thousands of people packed into the center of the capital city Kiev to protest the alleged rigged presidential election.

    Reports said the Kiev city council and other municipal administrations had refused to recognize the official results of the election which showed Monday that pro-West Viktor Yushchenko lost to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich by a three percentage point margin.

    Yushchenko claimed that he was denied victory by fraud and on Tuesday declared himself president. Enditem