Yanukovych ready for early votes as EU approves sanctions
21 February 2014, 04:57
President Viktor Yanukovych told visiting European Union ministers on Thursday he was ready to hold early presidential and parliamentary elections, as the bloc paved the way for sanctions on individuals responsible for deadly violence.
Clashes between anti-government protesters and riot police in the capital Kiev left 45 people dead, including three policemen, the Ukrainian Health Ministry said.
Protest leaders put the death toll higher. The nationalist Svoboda opposition party said more than 60 protesters had been killed by security forces.
EU foreign minister tasked experts to 'immediately' draft asset freezes and travel bans 'against those responsible for human rights violations, violence and use of excessive forces.' This includes compiling a list of targets.
The ministers said at emergency talks in Brussels that implementation of the sanctions 'will be taken forward in the light of developments in Ukraine.'
The decision came as the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Poland were in Kiev attempting to broker a peace deal.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Yanukovych had told Laurent Fabius, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and Radoslaw Sikorski that he was ready to hold early parliamentary and presidential elections.
The ministers have not managed to get opposition leaders to agree to a compromise plan to defuse the crisis.
The crisis was also discussed during a phone call by US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
'They agreed that it is critical that the United States, Germany and the European Union continue to stay in close touch in the days ahead on steps we can take to support an end to the violence and a political solution that is in the best interests of the Ukrainian people,' the White House said in a statement.
EU ministers also agreed 'to suspend export licenses on equipment which might be used for internal repression.' This includes items such as firearms, vehicles equipped with water cannons and riot gear.
Ukrainian and Russian politicians had earlier warned against Western sanctions, saying they would divide the country. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov argued that threatening sanctions was tantamount to blackmail.
Some EU ministers indicated the measures could target both government forces and radical opposition members. Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino referred to 'groups of extremists, of infiltrators ... that we cannot pretend not to see.'
Ukrainian authorities had earlier confirmed that its officers were using live ammunition. Interior Minister Valeriy Zakharchenko said the police had been issued firearms and would 'use them strictly according to the law.'
Medical workers said that at least 13 dead protesters were killed by single bullets, prompting accusations from protesters that snipers were killing people at random.
Photos and videos posted online showed masked men carrying what resembled Kalashnikov assault rifles. A video published by US-funded Radio Svoboda showed a sniper with a precision rifle lying on the ground surrounded by men in black uniforms wearing yellow armbands.
However, at least one video by Russian state broadcaster RT purportedly showed a group of anti-government snipers in a hotel room above Freedom Square.
The Interior Ministry said that anti-government snipers were shooting at police.
The fighting began Thursday morning, hours after Yanukovych and opposition leaders had declared a truce after late-night talks.
Thousands of protesters on a main Kiev square and surrounding streets pelted police with firebombs and Molotov cocktails, while the area was filled with black smoke from burning tyres.
The Interior Ministry said 67 policemen were seized by protesters, who also seized more government buildings in the capital.
Reports suggested that unrest was also spreading in the country's western Ukrainian-speaking regions, where support for the opposition is strong.
UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon on Thursday called for both sides to stand down.
'I continue to strongly appeal to all involved to cease the violence, and for the Ukrainian authorities to refrain from excessive use of force. I am appalled by the use of firearms by both the police and protesters,' Ban told reporters.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen called on the Ukraine military to stay out of the fight.
'The Ukrainian military should not turn on the people of Ukraine,' he said. 'If that happens, it would have severe negative consequences for our relationship with the authorities in Ukraine.'
Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Vladimir Lukin, the country's outgoing human rights ombudsman, as a mediator for Ukraine. The Kremlin said that Yanukovych had suggested Lukin's appointment during a phone call with Putin.
Authorities evacuated parliament and a government building stormed by protesters.
Independent and opposition lawmakers reconvened in parliament to discuss ways out of the crisis. Deputies said they would elect a new speaker and initiate a constitutional reform to curb presidential powers.
However, Yanukovych's Party of Regions, which has the biggest faction, said that the number of lawmakers in parliament was too small to make legitimate decisions.
Voice of Russia, Interfax, TASS, dpa
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