Ukraine ? Ukraine’s prime minister said Friday there will be no early parliamentary elections, defying a presidential decree and raising the stakes in her fierce political battle with the president.

President Viktor Yushchenko set the early vote for Dec. 7 earlier this week, burying attempts to revive his shattered pro-Western coalition with Tymoshenko.

But Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko called his decision unconstitutional and said the election will not happen. She said Ukraine has no money for an early election and predicted that parliament will not pass the necessary legislation.

“I am convinced that early parliamentary elections will not take place. No doubt about it,” the prime minister said on a television talk show. “Politicians will come to an understanding.”

Members of Tymoshenko’s party have said they would challenge Yushchenko’s order in the courts.

Tymoshenko, who is much more popular than Yushchenko, also has threatened to initiate early presidential elections alongside the parliamentary vote.