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Yanukovych announces transition deal in Ukraine [1]

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Date: 0001-11-30  +00:00

“We broached all subjects in a difficult atmosphere because the country is, or was, on the brink of civil war,” Fabius said.

The specifics of the transition plan have not been made public but are thought to include changes to the constitution in the coming days to give parliament more power; the formation of a transitional government within weeks; and the holding of early elections for both parliament and president.

The agreement was found following a threat made by EU foreign ministers at emergency talks in Brussels yesterday (20 February) to impose sanctions against those who are responsible for the violence that has left scores dead in the capital, Kiev.

The authorities said 39 people had been killed yesterday, in the worst day of violence since Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The opposition puts the number at between 70 and 100. Many protesters were killed by sniper fire from special forces.

Several EU foreign ministers said yesterday that those responsible must be punished.

Yanukovych also faced a growing number of defections from his party, including parliamentarians and the mayor of Kiev.

The three EU foreign ministers who mediated in Kiev – Fabius, Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany and Radislaw Sikorski of Poland – met Yanukovych throughout the day yesterday and again for an all-night session also attended by a Russian envoy.

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[1] Url: https://www.politico.eu/article/yanukovych-announces-transition-deal-in-ukraine/

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