Russia should not congratulate Viktor Yanukovych...

"I remember that in the runoff five years ago Yanukovych had better results than now, so I think it would be right to put off the question of congratulations until the inauguration," State Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov told reporters.

With 99.91% of ballots from Sunday"s vote counted, Yanukovych has a 3.47 percentage point lead over Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a flamboyant leader of the 2004 "Orange Revolution" protests that led to a re-vote and Yanukovych"s defeat.

Yanukovych was cast as the political villain and a Kremlin stooge in 2004, after Moscow rushed to congratulate him for winning an election that international observers said was rigged.

Gryzlov, however, said it was unlikely the events of 2004 would be repeated. "It was beyond the scope of any law, and I think it would be simply impossible to repeat."

"I hope the current results, when formally confirmed by Ukrainian election authorities, will allow Yanukovych to become the legitimate president,"

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