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Next round of Ukraine president-opposition talks due on Thursday

KIEV, February 20, /ITAR-TASS/ A next round of talks between the opposition leaders and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich will be held on Thursday, February 20, the leader of the opposition UDAR Party, Vitali Klitschko told reporters after talks on Wednesday.

“In actual fact we are discussing a truce. The main thing for today is to stop bloodshed,” Klitschko. “The next round of talks with Yanukovich will be tomorrow,” he added.

Earlier, the press service of the Ukrainian president said an agreement on truce and the start of negotiation process had been reached at talks of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich with opposition leaders Arseny Yatsenyuk (Batkivshchina Party), Vitali Klitshko (UDAR Party) and Oleg Tyagnibok (Svoboda Party).

It announced that a meeting of the Ukrainian president with Ukrainian parliament speaker Vladimir Rybak and members of the working group for the crisis settlement had ended with the parties announcing “truce and the start of the negotiation process with an aim to stop bloodshed, stabilize the situation in the state for the sake of civil peace”.

Taking part in the meeting were also the head of the presidential administration, Andrei Klyuyev, his first deputy Andrei Portnov, Acting Justice Minister Yelena Lukash and three opposition leaders.

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