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WASHINGTON -- President Bush is willing to abandon his demand for a United Nations vote on Iraq as the White House prepares an ultimatum that would presage the start of war.

The planned presidential address from the White House could come within hours of a collapse of deliberations at the United Nations, a senior administration official said Thursday. It would signal an ''end of diplomacy'' and warn journalists, U.N. weapons inspectors and international aid workers that it was time to leave Iraq.

Within days, Bush would follow with a ''start of bombing'' speech when the war begins, the official said in an interview.

In a stunning shift forced by international opposition, Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said Thursday that the administration might abandon its effort to win Security Council support for a resolution that would give tacit international approval of an Iraq invasion. Bush had insisted that a vote should occur no later than today. The administration official said there would be a U.N. vote, or a decision not to have a vote, by early next week.

The consequences of the rift between the United States, Britain and Spain on one side and France, Germany, Russia and China on the other loomed increasingly large. It has repercussions beyond the Iraq crisis. Iraq's ''day of reckoning is fast approaching,'' Powell told members of Congress at a hearing. But as far as winning U.N. support, Powell said, ''the options remain to go for a vote (or) not go for a vote.''