Antigovernment protesters man a barricade in Kiev on Friday. Baz Ratner/Reuters
Feb. 21, 2014 -- KIEV, Ukraine (NY Times) -- The government of President Viktor F. Yanukovych announced a tentative resolution on Friday to a crisis that has brought days of bloodshed to Ukraine. The agreement, which has yet to be signed, was announced after all-night talks with opposition leaders, Russian representatives and the foreign ministers of Germany, Poland and France.
Any deal that does not include the president’s departure, however, is unlikely to get very far with protesters and it is uncertain whether, in the event of a final deal, the protest movement’s political leadership can deliver the support of an angry base comprising many different groups and factions.
There were no immediate details of what the negotiations had achieved, and previous settlements and truces have broken down several times, though those previous deals were not reached with the high-level involvement of European Union and Russian mediators, as was the case in the overnight talks Friday. The statement from Mr. Yanukovych’s office said the talks had been “very difficult.”
Representatives of the protesters did not immediately comment officially on the statement from the president’s office. The statement said negotiators had agreed to initial an agreement to “settle the crisis,” without elaborating, and that a settlement would be signed by noon in Ukraine.
