A Truce Has Been Reached In Ukraine

On Wednesday, President Viktor Yanukovych announced that the Ukrainian government and opposition leaders had reached a truce, and will enter into negotiations to put a stop to the violence that’s gripped the capitol city and left 25 people dead since Tuesday. Yanukovych announced the truce on the Ukrainian government’s website, though he provided few details as to the terms of the agreement.

The post reads:

President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych held a meeting with Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Volodymyr Rybak and members of the Working Group on the Settlement of Political Crisis.

The meeting was attended by Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine Andriy Kliuyev, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine Andriy Portnov, Acting Minister of Justice Olena Lukash and leaders of opposition parties Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Vitali Klitschko, Oleh Tiahnybok.

Following the meeting, the parties declared:

1. Truce

2. Beginning of negotiations aimed at cessation of bloodshed and stabilization of the situation in the country for the sake of civil peace.

While the protests in Ukraine have been stop-and-start since November, they became drastically more violent Tuesday, with the country’s Independence Square erupting in flames Wednesday and police brutally suppressing the demonstrations. As Bustle reported:

The clash is thought to have been sparked by roughly 20,000 protesters marching toward Ukrainian parliament buildings in a move to support the opposition party’s bid to revert to the country’s 2004 constitution. This would have limited Yanukovych’s powers and strengthened the power of the Ukrainian parliament. The march came hot on the heels of a $2 billion purchase of government bonds by Russia Monday, solidifying Yanukovych’s allegiance to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Late Tuesday night, in an attempt to keep government forces at bay, the protesters formed a ring of fire around what was left of their camp. By Wednesday morning, the trade union building, where many protesters were sheltering, had been engulfed by uncontrollable flames.

The demonstrations began after Yanukovych reneged on a proposal that would have brought the country in closer cooperation with the European Union, opting instead to strengthen Ukraine’s ties with Russia.