Ukraine's lawmakers are considering granting amnesty to protesters arrested during weeks of demonstrations in the crisis-torn country.
The parliament will consider two amnesty proposals on Wednesday, one of which would make the amnesty conditional on demonstrators leaving leaving the streets and vacating the government buildings that they occupy, the BBC reported.
The opposition has said the condition is unacceptable and is demanding early elections, according to the report.
Over the course of two months, anti-government protesters have established a large tent camp in the main square of Kiev and seized three buildings that they use as operations centers and sleeping quarters. They have also erected large barricades of ice, wood and other material.
On Tuesday, Ukraine's parliament repealed controversial laws pushed through by President Viktor Yanukovych to crack down on protests and increase prison sentences for creating disorder. The development came hours after the country's prime minister submitted his resignation in a move aimed at defusing the political crisis.
The departure of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov brought encouragement to those at Kiev's sprawling protest encampment but no inclination to end their demonstrations.
"The authorities are afraid and making concessions. We should use this moment and continue our fight to achieve a change of power in Ukraine," said 23-year-old demonstrator Oleg Rudakov.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk, a lawmaker who is one of the opposition's top figures, hailed the parliament's move to repeal the anti-protest laws, which also prohibited demonstrators from wearing helmets and gas masks.
"We have repealed all the laws against which the whole country rose up," he said.
Yanukovych over the weekend had offered the premiership to Yatsenyuk, but the opposition leader refused the post. No obvious successor to Azarov has emerged.
Yanukovych's cash-strapped government just managed to avoid bankruptcy with the money pledged in November by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia spent $3 billion to buy Ukrainian government bonds in December and has promised to spend up to $15 billion total.
Putin said Tuesday that Russia will abide by the deal to buy those bonds and offer its neighbor cheaper natural gas even if the Ukrainian government ends up being led by the opposition.
Russia's main concern regarding Ukraine is to protect Russia's financial commitments, not geopolitical issues, Putin said in Brussels at a Russia-EU summit.
"Will we revise our agreements on credits and energy if the opposition comes to power? No we won't," he said.
In Washington, meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden welcomed progress toward defusing the political crisis and urged Yanukovych to sign the repeal of the anti-protest laws without delay. Speaking by telephone for the third time in less than a week, Biden also encouraged the Ukrainian president to keep working with the opposition.
(Fox News)
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