Yanukovych agrees early election

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Friday announced an early presidential election as one of a package of measures aimed at ending the country’s political crisis.

“I am initiating an early presidential election. I am also initiating a return to the 2004 Constitution with the redistribution of powers toward a parliamentary republic,” Yanukovych was quoted by his press office as saying.

The president said that he was ready to form a new inclusive government to end the violence, which left dozens of people dead and hundreds of others injured.

The president made concessions to the opposition in a bid to avoid further bloodshed and casualties among the demonstrators and police officers.