Ukraine presidency says deal reached on crisis, opposition silent

Saturday, 22 February 2014 11:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Ukraine’s presidency said on Friday a deal had been reached at all-night talks on resolving the country’s crisis after 75 people were killed in two days of the worst violence since Soviet times. But the opposition did not immediately confirm agreement had been reached and diplomatic sources described the talks brokered by three European Union ministers as “very difficult”. Three hours of fierce fighting on Thursday in Kiev’s Independence Square, which was recaptured by protesters demanding President Viktor Yanukovich quit, left the bodies of civilians strewn on the ground close to where talks took place.

A few thousand people were occupying the square on Friday morning but there was no sign of any new violence after Thursday’s bloodshed in Kiev, which is caught in a geopolitical tug-of-war between East and West. Yanukovich’s press service said in a statement that agreement had been reached at the talks and added: “The agreement will be signed at midday (1000 GMT).” The three EU ministers, from Poland, Germany and France, did not immediately comment on the presidency statement. EU officials went into the talks on Thursday hoping a plan for an interim government and early elections could bring peace. France’s foreign minister said late on Thursday there was still no agreement over a proposed road map to ease the crisis, which began in November after Yanukovich spurned a trade deal with the European Union and turned instead towards Moscow. Shortly before the presidency statement was released, the Standard & Poor’s agency lowered Ukraine’s credit rating, saying the future of the country’s leadership looked more uncertain than at any time since the crisis began. This could affect the delivery of financial aid promised by Russia, it said. The violence has hit the Ukrainian currency, the cost of insuring the country’s debt has risen and a senior general dealt Yanukovich another blow by tendering his resignation over the bloodshed, saying he feared more. n Thursday, riot police were captured on video shooting from a rooftop at demonstrators in the central plaza, also known as the Maidan. Protesters hurled petrol bombs and paving stones to drive the security forces off a corner of the square the police had captured in battles that began two days earlier. The health ministry said 75 people had been killed since Tuesday afternoon, which meant at least 47 died in Thursday’s clashes. That was by far the worst violence since Ukraine emerged from the crumbling Soviet Union 22 years ago.