Chances of ending Kyiv violence high: Ukraine opp.
Ukraine’s opposition says there are “high chances” of ending the ongoing violence in the European country.
“We had the task of halting the bloodshed. The chance [of this] is very high,” Arseniy Yatsenyuk, leader of the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party, said after a meeting between the opposition and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich on Thursday. The talks were aimed at ending the country’s political crisis.
“Keep the barricades in place but (be) calm until the talks finish,” the opposition leader said.
Late on Wednesday, opposition leaders issued a stark ultimatum to President Yanukovych to call early elections within 24 hours or face more protests.
Earlier in the day, fierce clashes between riot police and anti-government protesters in Kyiv left five people dead and hundreds more injured.
The clashes broke out when Ukrainian police moved in to dismantle a protest camp in the center of the capital.
The fresh round of violence broke out shortly after the government imposed a controversial ban which prohibits mass protests.
Both the European Union and the United States have called for an immediate end to the violence, warning they would take action against Ukrainian authorities.
Yanukovych on Wednesday held talks with opposition leaders in an effort to find a negotiated solution to end the crisis.
Ukraine has been rocked by anti-government protests after Yanukovych refrained from signing the Association Agreement with the EU at the third Eastern Partnership Summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, on November 29, 2013.
Kyiv refused to sign the agreement after EU leaders called on Ukraine to allow jailed opposition leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, to travel overseas for medical treatment.
IA/MAM/MHB