KIEV, April 17 - President Viktor Yushchenko said Thursday that he would do everything to make sure the pro-Western coalition remains intact, rejecting mounting speculation that his uneasy alliance with the Tymoshenko group might soon collapse.

"The coalition will not collapse," Yushchenko said speaking after a conference in Donetsk. "I told the members of the coalition that ‘I will put chains around you to make sure nobody can leave.’"