Viktor Yanukovych. Photograph by Michael Wuertenberg/WEF
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has agreed on a deal with opposition leaders to call an early presidential election in an attempt to end the country’s increasingly violent political crisis.
The deal, agreed after hours of talks mediated by European foreign ministers, includes plans for electoral and constitutional reform and for the formation of a national unity government within the next two weeks.
The agreement signed by Yanukovych and opposition leaders Vitali Klitschko, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and Oleh Tyahnibok includes the following clauses:
- 2004 constitution restored within 48 hours
- Constitutional reform to rebalance the branches of state to begin immediately and to be completed by September
- Presidential election organised for as soon as the new constitution is adopted and no later than December 2014
- Investigation into the recent violence conducted under joint monitoring from the authorities, the opposition and the Council of Europe.
- Authorities will not impose a state of emergency and both sides will refrain from violence and make efforts to normalise the cities. Illegal weapons will be handed in to authorities
- “The Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, Poland and the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation call for an immediate end to all violence and confrontation”
Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed the deal, saying:
I welcome today’s agreement which offers a real chance to end the bloodshed and to stop the downward spiral into the nightmare that is facing Ukraine and her people. It should foster a lasting political solution to the crisis and President Yanukovych, his administration and the opposition must all get behind this deal and deliver it according to the timetable set out. In particular, the 2004 Constitution must be restored within the next 2 days and a national unity government should be in place by the beginning of March.
I hope that it will restore calm to the streets of Kiev and across the country. The scenes we have witnessed over the last few days have been horrific and my thoughts are with those who have lost loved ones and the injured. Such scenes of carnage are truly shocking and have no place in 21st century Europe.
Over the last 24 hours, I have spoken to President Putin, Chancellor Merkel and Prime Minister Tusk. We all support this deal and want to see it work. And working with other European partners and the United States, we will do all we can to ensure it succeeds.
