DAVOS/KIEV, January 23 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine’s Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has blamed deadly clashes between police and protestors on militants who were attempting a coup.
“It’s militants, not opposition, that are acting against us,” he said Thursday. “A real attempt at a state coup is under way.”
He dismissed as “absolutely impossible” one of the opposition’s main demands, for the authorities to call early elections.
“Is it possible to hold elections when the center of Kiev is taken over by militants?” Azarov said. “We should normalize the situation in the country first.”
He said that the authorities were ready to negotiate with the opposition on the country’s electoral laws and that a “compromise on the issue is possible.”
“If the opposition is not satisfied with certain aspects of the law on presidential elections, then we are open for dialog,” Azarov said. “But instead of issuing ultimatums, they should sit at the negotiating table and think what exactly should be changed in those legislative acts.”
The premier said that his cabinet of ministers was ready to resign, but only if the parliament, dominated by the pro-presidential Party of Regions, votes in favor of this.
“The government will resign if there is enough voices in favor in the parliament. I’ve already said that this is possible,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych met with parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Rybak to request an urgent parliamentary session to discuss the ongoing violence.
The session will talke place on January 28.
Ukraine has seen increasingly ugly scenes in recent days as demonstrators intensified their anti-government campaign in response to draconian legislation that came into force
Wednesday and which severely curbed the freedom to protest.
Dozens of protestors and riot police have been injured in clashes that began late on January 19. Two protestors have been officially confirmed dead.
Updates with more statements from Azarov
