Protesters work to reinforce barricades in Kiev on Friday. (Photo: Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times)
President Viktor Yanukovych on Friday announced early presidential elections and promised to bring opposition members into the government in an effort to defuse the country’s growing political crisis and tension.
In fact, tensions have been so high the Ukrainian deal was signed as police and anti-government protesters exchanged gunfire in and around Independence Square in Kiev.
However, President Yanukovych gave no time frame and it’s unclear whether his concessions will be enough to satisfy protesters who have occupied a piece of Kiev and government buildings around the country.
There was no immediate comment from opposition leaders, who were meeting among themselves after a marathon night of meetings with European diplomats. Thursday the EU agreed in an emergency meeting to impose sanctions against the government.
Before agreeing to impose sanctions, three European Union foreign ministers — France’s foreign minister Laurent Fabius, Poland’s foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski, and Germany’s foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier – had a five-hour meeting with President Viktor Yanukovych.
The foreign ministers, agreed on the scope of the sanctions that would be adjusted according to the developments in Ukraine. The restrictions are to be drafted into law in the coming days, Reuters reports.
Meanwhile, gunfire was exchanged near the main square in Kiev Friday morning. A police statement obtained by Reuters said Ukrainian police shot back when protesters opened fire on officers between the protest square and the parliament building.
The statement did not say whether there had been any casualties.
In a sign of the high tensions, armed law enforcement officers tried to enter parliament Friday morning during a debate over measures to end the crisis. Shouting lawmakers pushed them out.
The Ukrainian parliament on Thursday passed a measure that would prohibit an “anti-terrorist operation” threatened by Yanukovych to restore order, and called for all Interior Ministry troops to return to their bases.
But it was unclear how binding the move would be, as the mechanism for carrying it out would have to be developed by the president’s office and the Interior Ministry.
The preliminary deal struck overnight would see Ukraine’s president he would lose some of his powers, and a caretaker government created in 48 hours that would include representatives of the opposition, Slovakia’s Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak said.
“Of course, the participants of the talks, my colleagues, warned it is still premature to say the crisis is over.”
The head of Yanukovich’s party in parliament, Oleksander Yefremov, said the deal includes early presidential elections in December, and a constitutional vote in September.
Yanukovych also promised constitutional reforms reigning in presidential powers, which was a vital demand coming from protesters.
“As the president of Ukraine and the guarantor of the Constitution, today I am fulfilling my duty before the people, before Ukraine and before God in the name of saving the nation, in the name of preserving people’s lives, in the name of peace and calm of our land,” the president said in a statement on his website.
The Ukrainian deal came just after the worst instance of violence yet in the confrontation between security forces and protesters.
After a truce between President Yanukovych and the opposition fell apart Thursday, as fresh clashes between both sides have left at least 33 dead, bringing this week’s death toll in Kiev to 59. Dr. Oleh Musiy, the coordinator for the protesters’ medical team, claims that Thursday’s death toll alone is at least 70, but that has not been confirmed by People’s Pundit Daily or other media outlets.
Among the deceased were 10 police officers, a minimum of 21 protesters who reportedly were killed by security forces in Kiev, and a journalist working for the Russian-language newspaper, Vesti. The journalist, Vyacheslav Veremyi, was pulled from a taxi by masked men and shot.
A statement on the website of the Health Ministry said 77 people had been killed between Tuesday morning and Friday morning, but again, there is no outlet prepared to verify any of these new death toll figures.
The US state department announced visa bans on 20 members of the Ukrainian government, however they did not provide any names. U.S. officials at the State Department reiterated Thursday that it would work with its European allies to resolve the crisis, and is now considering whether or not to join the EU sanctions. A freeze on assets and travel bans will hurt the oligarchs who back Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
Video footage emerged showing snipers firing on demonstrators who had been trying to retake their protest camp in Independence Square. Trying to protect themselves with shields, teams of protesters carried bodies away on sheets of plastic or on planks of wood.
One opposition lawmaker says police who were captured are being held in Kiev’s city hall, which is being occupied by protesters.
The Ukraine protests started at the end of November in response to President Yanukovych’s rejection of a landmark trade deal with the EU in favor of closer ties with Russia. After that move, Russia announced a $15 billion bailout for Ukraine, whose economy is in shambles.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Russia will “try to do our best” to fulfill its financial obligations to Ukraine, but indicated Moscow would hold back on further bailout installments until the crisis is resolved.
“We need partners that are in good shape and a Ukrainian government that is legitimate and effective,” he said.
