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Ukraine opposition leader Oleh Tyahnybok urges demonstrators for truce after Kiev talks with president Viktor Yanukovych Ukraine opposition leader Oleh Tyahnybok urges demonstrators for truce as protesters seize government building in Kiev
(about 4 hours later)
A senior Ukrainian opposition leader urged protesters to maintain a shaky truce with police after at least two demonstrators were killed in clashes this week. Protesters in Ukraine seized a government building in the capital of Kiev on Friday, intensifying pressure on the government to call elections.
But some in the crowd in Kiev appeared defiant, jeering and chanting “revolution” and “shame”. The siege continued after opposition leaders emerged in the morning following talks with President Viktor Yanukovych late on Thursday.
Emerging from hours-long talks with President Viktor Yanukovych, opposition leader Oleh Tyahnybok asked demonstrators in Kiev for several more days of a truce. Senior opposition leader Oleh Tyahnybok called on demonstrators in Kiev to continue their truce for several more days, to which some demonstrators responded with chants of “revolution” and “shame”.
He said the president has agreed to ensure the release of dozens of detained protesters and stop further detentions. Mr Tyahnybok attempted to appease crowds by declaring that he had promised to stop further detentions of protesters and to ensure the release of dozens detained following clashes with police. 
But other opposition leaders offered mixed reports on the outcome of the meeting, with Vitali Klitschko saying negotiations had achieved little. But other opposition leaders offered mixed reports on the outcome of the meeting, with Vitali Klitschko saying negotiations had achieved little. “The only thing we were able to achieve was not much,” he told the crowd.
He and Mr Tyanhnybok were booed at the barricades by angry demonstrators and the atmosphere appeared tense. Thick black smoke from burning tires engulfed parts of downtown Kiev as an ultimatum issued by the opposition to the president to call early election or face street rage was set to expire with no sign of a compromise He and Mr Tyahnybok were booed at the barricades by angry demonstrators and the atmosphere appeared tense.
“We are not going to sit and wait for nobody-knows-what,” said Andriy Pilkevich, a ski mask-wearing protester who was building barricades near police lines from giant bags of ice. President Yanukovych has called an emergency session of parliament next week to discuss the protests.
“Those who want to win must fight.” Interior Minister Vitali Zakharchenko issued a statement late on Thursday guaranteeing that police would not take action against the large protest camp on Independence Square, known as the Maidan. He also urged police not to react to provocations from demonstrators.
Interior minister Vitali Zakharchenko issued a statement guaranteeing that police would not take action against the large protest camp on Independence Square, known as the Maidan. The protests have been largely peaceful, but turned violent on Sunday after Yanukovych pushed through harsh anti-protest laws and stonewalled protesters' demands that he call new elections.
He also called on the police to exercise calm and not react to provocations. Demonstrations began two months ago after President Yanukovych abruptly rejected an association agreement with the European Union in favour of a bailout loan from Russia. Two people were shot and killed in clashes on Wednesday, marking the first deaths since the protest began, and fuelling fears of further escalation.
The developments came as hundreds of enraged protesters in several regions in western Ukraine, where Mr Yanukovych has little support, seized government offices and forced one governor loyal to him to resign. One protester Andriy Moiseenko said of the seizure of the Ministry of Agricultural Policy: “We need to keep people warm in the frost. We cannot have people sleeping in tents all the time.”
At least two people were killed by gunfire on Wednesday at the site of clashes in Kiev. A clergyman opposes riot police in Kiev during a rally held by pro-European integration demonstrators. The demonstrators have allowed ministry workers to take their possessions from the building, but have not allowed them to go to work.
Demonstrators had pelted riot police with barrages of stones and set police buses on fire, while the officers responded with rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades. The move followed the seizure of local governors' offices in several western regions on Thursday.
Opposition leaders had set a deadline for yesterday evening for the government to make concessions or face renewed clashes. In Lviv, near the Polish border, 450 kilometers (280 miles) west of the capital, hundreds of activists burst into the office of the regional governor Oleh Salo, appointed by President Yanukovych, shouting “Revolution!” They forced a local governor to sign a resignation letter and remained in the building, stopping workers from entering. 
Protesters had quenched barricades that had been set on fire, but lit them again during the evening. A protester prays as he holds an open Bible during an anti-government protest in downtown Kiev Protesters have also retained control of offices in four other western cities seized Thursday, though they suffered a setback in Cherkasy, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) southeast of Kiev, where police barricaded the governor's building from inside and prevented them from taking control.
Although one opposition leader, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said after the talks that “there is a really good chance” of stopping the bloodshed, Mr Klitschko was more downbeat.
“The only thing we were able to achieve was not much,” he told the crowd.
He urged protesters to refrain from violence and continue peaceful protests to avoid further bloodshed.
“I am afraid, yes, I am afraid of human losses,” he said. “We will be widening the territory of the Maidan further until these guys start reckoning with us.”
The president called a special session of parliament next week to discuss the tensions, telling the parliament speaker: “The situation demands an urgent settlement.”
But there was no indication that the move represented a compromise, since the president's backers hold a majority of seats.
The protests began two months ago after Mr Yanukovych turned away from closer ties with the EU in favour of getting a bailout loan from Russia.
They turned violent this week after he pushed through harsh anti-protest laws, rejecting protesters' demands that he resign and call new elections.
Yesterday, the violence spread to western Ukraine, where support for Mr Yanukovych is thin and most residents want closer ties to the 28-nation EU.
In Lviv, near the Polish border some 280 miles west of Kiev, hundreds of activists burst into the office of the regional governor, Oleh Salo, a Yanukovych appointee, shouting “Revolution!”
After surrounding him and forcing him to sign a resignation letter, an activist ripped it out of Mr Salo's hands and lifted it up to the cheers and applause of the crowd.
Mr Salo later retracted his signature, saying he had been coerced.
Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters smashed windows, broke doors and stormed into the governor's office in the city of Rivne, shouting “Down with the gang!” - a common reference to Mr Yanukovych's government. Once inside, they sang the national anthem.
Angry crowds also besieged government offices in other western regions.
Meanwhile, anger spread after a video was released online appearing to show police abusing and humiliating a naked protester in what looked like a location close to the site of the Kiev clashes.
The opposition maintains that as many as five people died in Wednesday's clashes, though they say they have no evidence because the bodies were removed by authorities.The opposition maintains that as many as five people died in Wednesday's clashes, though they say they have no evidence because the bodies were removed by authorities.
The interior ministry said yesterday that 73 people had been taken into custody, including 52 being investigated for “mass riots” - a new criminal charge that carries a prison sentence of up to eight years.The interior ministry said yesterday that 73 people had been taken into custody, including 52 being investigated for “mass riots” - a new criminal charge that carries a prison sentence of up to eight years.
Reaction from the West and neighbouring Russia has been mixed. Protesters wearing headbands reading 'Help' shout slogans during an action entitled 'Impose sanctions - stop the violence' in front of the European Union delegation in Ukraine in Kiev. Reaction from the West and neighbouring Russia has been mixed.
The US has revoked the visas of Ukrainian officials linked to violence and threatened more sanctions.The US has revoked the visas of Ukrainian officials linked to violence and threatened more sanctions.
Yesterday vice president Joe Biden called Mr Yanukovych and urged him to end the bloodshed. On Thursday US Vice President Joe Biden called President Yanukovych and urged him to end the bloodshed.
EU commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said that if the situation in Ukraine does not stabilise, the EU “would assess possible consequences in its relationship”. EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said that if the situation in Ukraine does not stabilise, the EU “would assess possible consequences in its relationship”.
Russia accused the West of meddling in Ukraine's affairs.Russia accused the West of meddling in Ukraine's affairs.
“We feel regret and indignation about the obvious foreign interference in the developments in Kiev,” President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said.“We feel regret and indignation about the obvious foreign interference in the developments in Kiev,” President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said.
AP Additional reporting by AP