Ukraine Opposition signs deal with President
22 Feb Sky News
A deal to end the crisis in Ukraine has taken a major step forward
after protesters agreed to a compromise by the president to form a
coalition government.
Opposition leader Oleh Tyahnybok said a council representing
protesters in Independence Square backed the deal on condition that the
current interior minister and prosecutor-general are excluded from any
interim government. The protesters’ refusal to agree had formed a major
obstacle in getting the deal signed. The three opposition leaders Mr
Tyahnybok, Vitali Klitschko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk met with President
Viktor Yanukovych at the presidential HQ in Kiev to sign the deal.
In a statement on his website, Mr Yanukovych announced presidential
elections would take place this year and promised to form a coalition
government. The elections had been due to take place in March 2015.He
also promised to revert to the country’s 2004 constitution which will
trim presidential powers - one of the key demands of protesters.”There
are no steps that we should not take to restore peace in Ukraine. I
announce that I am initiating early elections,” he said.The interior
minister, Vitali Zakharchenko, was later removed following a vote in
parliament. He was widely blamed for ordering police violence against
protesters.The parliament also voted to free jailed opposition figure
Yulia Tymoshenko.
Opposition figures later took to the stage in Independence Square to
detail the deal to the assembled crowds.The White House has welcomed the
deal, but said it remains prepared to impose additional
sanctions.President Barack Obama spoke to Russian president Vladimir
Putin on Friday evening, with the two leaders discussing the need to
stabilise Ukraine’s economy and carry out reforms.Mr Obama also spoke
with Mr Putin about the need for “all sides to refrain from further
violence”, a White House statement said.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the agreement was an
“important first step”.EU foreign minister Baroness Ashton said Mr
Yanukovych had staked himself on the deal. She added that political
stability and economic stability in Ukraine go “hand in hand”.
European Union ministers became involved in brokering apolitical
settlement in Ukraine after gun battles between police and
anti-government protesters brought the death toll to 77 in two days.The
officials from Germany, France and Poland, embarked on “a night of
difficult negotiations” with President Yanukovych and the
opposition.Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski tweeted: “Good
compromise for Ukraine. Gives peace a chance. Opens the way to reform
and to Europe. Poland and EU support it.”British Prime Minister David
Cameron welcomed the agreement in Kiev.In a statement, he said: “I
welcome today’s agreement which offers a real chance to end the
bloodshed and to stop the downward spiral into the nightmare that is
facing Ukraine and her people.
“It should foster a lasting political solution to the crisis and
President Yanukovych, his administration and the opposition must all get
behind this deal and deliver it according to the timetable set out.”
EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels agreed to impose sanctions
on officials held responsible for the violence on Thursday night.
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