Ukraine president offers PM post to opp. leader
Iran Press TV
Sat Jan 25, 2014 9:36PM GMT
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has offered the post of the prime minister to opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk in a bid to resolve the two-month crisis in the European country.
In a statement released on Saturday on the presidential website, Yanukovych offered the country's second-highest job to Yatsenyuk, former economy minister, and the post of deputy prime minister to Vitali Klitschko, another top opposition leader.
According to the statement, Yanukovych promised that the people arrested during the unrest would be treated fairly if the opposition leaders controlled radical protesters and persuaded those who have been occupying public buildings to leave.
He has also pledged to change the constitution to reduce the president's powers.
The opposition leaders, who have asked for the dismissal of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov since the beginning of unrest two months ago, have shown no reaction so far.
The offers came after talks on Saturday with opposition leaders in an effort to contain the fast-moving violence that has spread across the country.
The president's office said the talks began with the three main opposition leaders, namely Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR) leader and world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, Fatherland Party leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and nationalist Svoboda party leader Oleg Tyagnybok.
Ukraine has been rocked by anti-government protests since Yanukovych refrained from signing the Association Agreement with the European Union at the third Eastern Partnership Summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on November 29, 2013.
Kiev refused to sign the agreement after EU leaders called on Ukraine to allow jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko to travel overseas for medical treatment.
MSM/NN/AS
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