Ukraine's prez agrees to 'truce,' negotiations with opposition
- 1
- 2
- next
- | single page
|
CAPTIONS
Ukrainian President Viktor
Yanukovich said on Wednesday he had agreed a "truce" with opposition
leaders, after street violence in which at least 26 people were killed,
and a start to negotiations to end further bloodshed.
A statement on the presidential website said that during talks with the three main opposition leaders, Yanukovich had agreed firstly a truce and secondly "the start to negotiations with the aim of ending bloodshed, and stabilising the situation in the state in the interests of social peace."
The statement, issued on the eve of a visit by the foreign ministers of Germany, Poland and France, appeared to indicate that riot police who on Tuesday night advanced on to Kiev's Independence Square would not take further immediate steps to break up the encampment of protesters.
Former economy minister
Arseny Yatseniuk, one of the opposition leaders, said in a statement on
the website of his Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party: "The storming of
the Maidan (Independence Square) which the authorities had planned today
will not take place.
"A truce has been declared. The main thing is to protect human life," he said.
Yanukovich issued his statement after meeting Yatseniuk and the two other opposition leaders, boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko and far-right nationalist Oleh Tyahnibok.
WARNINGS FROM WEST, EU
President Barack Obama, echoed by the Pentagon, warned on Wednesday that there would be consequences if violence continues in Ukraine, saying the Ukrainian military should not step into a situation that could be resolved by civilians.
Going head to head with Russia in a dispute heavy with echoes of the Cold War, the United States urged Yanukovich to pull back riot police, call a truce and talk to the opposition.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said the 28-nation EU, at an emergency meeting on Thursday, would impose asset freezes and visa bans on those blamed for the bloodshed.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, on a visit to Paris, said Washington was ready to impose similar sanctions.
The European Investment Bank, the EU's soft-loan arm, said it had frozen its activities in Ukraine due to the violence.
The leaders of Germany and France said after talks in Paris that the sanctions were only part of an approach to promote a compromise leading to constitutional reform and elections.
"What is happening in Ukraine is unspeakable, unacceptable, intolerable," French President Francois Hollande told a joint news conference. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said targeted sanctions against Ukraine's leaders would show the EU was serious in pressing for a political solution. She made clear they were talking to all sides in the crisis, including Russia.
Diplomats cautioned that any sanctions would be largely symbolic, noting that similar Western measures had long failed to sway or unseat the rulers of Belarus or Zimbabwe.
In staunchly pro-European western Ukraine, opponents of Yanukovich declared political autonomy after seizing regional administrative buildings in Lviv overnight and forcing police to surrender. Protesters also took over regional offices in Ivano-Frankivsk, blocked a road to a border crossing toPoland and torched the main police station in the city of Ternopil.
Many in the west, parts of which were first ruled from Moscow in World War Two, view Yanukovich as a corrupt ally of Russia and of business oligarchs in the Russian-speaking east.
European Union leaders condemned what they called "the unjustified use of excessive force by the Ukrainian authorities" and said they were urgently preparing targeted sanctions against officials responsible for the crackdown.
EU officials said Yanukovich himself would not be on the list to keep channels of dialogue open. The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland will visit him on Thursday, hours before an emergency EU meeting to decide on the sanctions.
As well as asset freezes and visa bans, ministers will discuss measures to stop riot gear and other equipment being exported to Ukraine and could consider arms restrictions.
Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren warned the Ukrainian armed forces to stay out of the conflict, as "participation would have consequences in our defense relationship."
A statement on the presidential website said that during talks with the three main opposition leaders, Yanukovich had agreed firstly a truce and secondly "the start to negotiations with the aim of ending bloodshed, and stabilising the situation in the state in the interests of social peace."
The statement, issued on the eve of a visit by the foreign ministers of Germany, Poland and France, appeared to indicate that riot police who on Tuesday night advanced on to Kiev's Independence Square would not take further immediate steps to break up the encampment of protesters.
"A truce has been declared. The main thing is to protect human life," he said.
Yanukovich issued his statement after meeting Yatseniuk and the two other opposition leaders, boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko and far-right nationalist Oleh Tyahnibok.
WARNINGS FROM WEST, EU
President Barack Obama, echoed by the Pentagon, warned on Wednesday that there would be consequences if violence continues in Ukraine, saying the Ukrainian military should not step into a situation that could be resolved by civilians.
Going head to head with Russia in a dispute heavy with echoes of the Cold War, the United States urged Yanukovich to pull back riot police, call a truce and talk to the opposition.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said the 28-nation EU, at an emergency meeting on Thursday, would impose asset freezes and visa bans on those blamed for the bloodshed.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, on a visit to Paris, said Washington was ready to impose similar sanctions.
The European Investment Bank, the EU's soft-loan arm, said it had frozen its activities in Ukraine due to the violence.
The leaders of Germany and France said after talks in Paris that the sanctions were only part of an approach to promote a compromise leading to constitutional reform and elections.
"What is happening in Ukraine is unspeakable, unacceptable, intolerable," French President Francois Hollande told a joint news conference. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said targeted sanctions against Ukraine's leaders would show the EU was serious in pressing for a political solution. She made clear they were talking to all sides in the crisis, including Russia.
Diplomats cautioned that any sanctions would be largely symbolic, noting that similar Western measures had long failed to sway or unseat the rulers of Belarus or Zimbabwe.
In staunchly pro-European western Ukraine, opponents of Yanukovich declared political autonomy after seizing regional administrative buildings in Lviv overnight and forcing police to surrender. Protesters also took over regional offices in Ivano-Frankivsk, blocked a road to a border crossing toPoland and torched the main police station in the city of Ternopil.
Many in the west, parts of which were first ruled from Moscow in World War Two, view Yanukovich as a corrupt ally of Russia and of business oligarchs in the Russian-speaking east.
European Union leaders condemned what they called "the unjustified use of excessive force by the Ukrainian authorities" and said they were urgently preparing targeted sanctions against officials responsible for the crackdown.
EU officials said Yanukovich himself would not be on the list to keep channels of dialogue open. The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland will visit him on Thursday, hours before an emergency EU meeting to decide on the sanctions.
As well as asset freezes and visa bans, ministers will discuss measures to stop riot gear and other equipment being exported to Ukraine and could consider arms restrictions.
Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren warned the Ukrainian armed forces to stay out of the conflict, as "participation would have consequences in our defense relationship."
- 1
- 2
- next
- | single page
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment-- or suggestions, particularly of topics and places you'd like to see covered