Agreement Halts Violence in Ukraine

Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych has accepted an agreement with the opposition that has halted the violence in the country's capital of Kiev and unrest throughout the country.  The agreement forces Yanukovych to return to Ukraine's 2004 constitution, which would strip some powers from him, to hold elections before December of this year, and to form a coalition government in the next 10 days.  Negotiators from the European Union helped to broker the agreement.  Although Russia was involved in the negotiations, they have not signed the agreement.  The demonstrations have been ongoing since last November, but recently turned violent when Ukrainian security forces tried to clear demonstrators out of Kiev's central square.  Some 77 people have been killed in the past week of violence.

The demonstrations arose over Yanukovych's decision to move away from the European Union and establish close ties with Putin's Russia, a move widely unpopular with the public.  Putin had been urging Yanukovych to crack down on the demonstrations.  It remains to be seen how Putin will react to this setback in his delusions for a reconstituted Soviet Union Imperial Russia.

(photo:  Protesters gather in Kiev's Independence Square to celebrate agreement.  Brendan Hoffman, Getty Images)