Yanukovych calls on opposition to stop standoff, start negotiations
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has called on the opposition to sit at the negotiating table and stop the standoff.
"I am urging the people once again not to fall for calls by political radicals. It's not yet too late to stop and settle the conflict in a peaceful way. I am calling on the opposition once again to sit at the negotiating table and stop the standoff," Yanukovych said in a statement posted on the presidential website on Wednesday.
Yanukovych regretted the deaths of people in the conflict "provoked by political extremists."
"My sincere condolences go to the families of the dead," he said.
He said he strongly opposes bloodshed, the use of force, and the fomenting of hatred and violence.
"I am asking the people to come back home. We should restore peace, serenity, and stability in Ukraine," he said.
The Ukrainian presidential press service reported that Yanukovych instructed the law enforcement agencies to conduct a thorough investigation into the people's deaths during the ongoing unrest in Kyiv.
