Ukraine set for protest showdown
In a first concession, parliament said it would discuss whether the government should resign at an extraordinary session next week.
The opposition on Wednesday demanded the president’s resignation, with Arseniy Yatsenyuk, of the Fatherland party, saying he was ready to take “a bullet in the head” if Yanukovych ignores the ultimatum.
However, the call was not repeated on Thursday, when opposition leaders held a new round of talks with Yanukovych.
Opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko said the main demands were to end “the terror and the persecution of people” as well as the resignation of the government, the Interfax news agency reported.
The call for the president to step down came after three activists were killed. Two died of gunshot wounds in Kyiv, which the opposition blamed on police. The Interior Ministry said that officers had not been issued guns.
The body of a third activist, Yuri Verbytskyi, was discovered with marks of torture. Police said that the bruises could not be linked to his death and that the activist died of hypothermia.
Some opposition members put the death toll at seven.
The deaths were the first since the crisis over Yanukovych’s rejection of a partnership deal with the European Union erupted in November.
Klitschko has said he had agreed with police that a truce would hold until 8pm (0500 AEDT Friday). The former boxing champion urged protesters to refrain from violence and promised to brief them about the talks with Yanukovych.
Outside the capital, protesters stormed or encircled a number of regional administrations. In the western region of Lviv, the Yanukovych-appointed governor, Oleh Salo, was forced to sign a resignation letter. Salo later retracted, saying that he had signed under duress.
The opposition stepped up the protests at the weekend after parliament approved laws that curb free speech, establish new penalties for unlawful protests and make it easier to strip legislators of their immunity.