Ukrainian protestors agree to hold talks with government

Ukrainian protest leaders agreed Friday to hold roundtable negotiations with President Viktor Yanukovych and government representatives to defuse the country's political crisis. "We will participate in the roundtable," a key opposition leader and head of the opposition Udar party Vilaly Klitchko told demonstrators and reporters in central Kiev. The Ukrainian opposition is willing to discuss a wide range of issues with the authorities during the talks on Friday afternoon, Klitchko said, adding that the issues of releasing political prisoners and resignation of the government will be high on the agenda. On Wednesday, Yanukovych called on Ukrainian public figures and leaders of protestors to join a national dialogue to settle the mounting political tension in the country, which was caused by the demonstrations staged to back the country's European integration and demand abdication of the authorities. Ukraine's decision to quit a partnership agreement with the EU at the Eastern Partnership Summit in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius last month triggered the protests.