KIEV, Ukraine - In the his first meeting with opposition leaders since the outbreak of a sustained civil uprising, President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine urged the tens of thousands of demonstrators calling for changes at the highest levels of government to stop protesting.
“I appeal to our citizens,” Yanukovych said at the end of a more than two-hour meeting that included protest organizers, religious leaders and all three ex-presidents of Ukraine. “Calm down and stop the confrontation. Confrontation has never led to anything good.”
The round-table talks occurred as Yanukovych, whose popularity has plummeted since his abrupt decision last month to back away from signing political and free-trade accords with Europe, is under intensifying pressure to resolve the crisis.
It is coming not only from officials in the West and in Russia, who have been in a tug of war for influence over Ukraine’s future, but also from some of Ukraine’s wealthiest and most influential businessmen who seem increasingly jarred by the instability and uncertainty in the country and worried about the quickly deteriorating economy.
The country’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, a multibillionaire widely viewed as an ally of Yanukovych’s, issued a statement Friday expressing support for demonstrators and urging that the governmentoffer a clearer picture of its intentions.
Since backing away from the accords with Europe, Yanukovych has been in negotiations with Moscow over desperately needed economic aid, and he is to meet Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the round-table meeting, one of the country’s senior religious leaders, Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate, warned Yanukovych not to use force against protesters or to join Putin’s fledgling customs union of post-Soviet states.
“Use of force only calls for more force,” Filaret said, sitting directly across the table from Yanukovych, who at times alternatively seemed pained and bored throughout the meeting. “And what does that mean? A civil war. Do we want a civil war? None of us wants a civil war.”
“It is impossible to disperse the square by force,” Filaret said. “It will gather again. And if you join the customs union, even more people will come out.”
Yanukovych offered to impose a moratorium on the use of force against demonstrators. He also proposed that amnesty be granted to those who have been arrested in the protests, and said the measure would be taken up by the parliament next week, but opposition leaders say they heard nothing conciliatory in his remarks.
“The only response there was today was that forceful methods will not be used now,” said Arseniy Yatsenyuk , the leader in the parliament of the opposition Fatherland party, who attended the talks. “Do I believe this? No. But did he give his word? Yes.”
Vitali Klitschko, the champion boxer who leads the United Democratic Alliancefor Reform party, put it more bluntly.
“Today, the authorities have not considered any of the oppositions’ demands,” Klitschko said. “This round table was for show.”
Opposition leaders are demanding the resignation of the government and the revival of talks with Europe. Yatsenyuk suggested that behind the scenes some members of the Party of Regions, which supported Yanukovych and controls a majority in the parliament, were now prepared to work against the president and perhaps remove the government. The statement by Akhmetov, who is believed to command the loyalty of 30 to 40 members of the parliament, suggested that such maneuverings could be underway.
Reacting to the government resignation demand, Yanukovych pointed out that the opposition lost a parliamentary no-confidence vote last week. “The vote already took place, and you saw it,” he said.
The opposition has called for a vast turnout Sunday. Rallies on the previous two Sundays drew hundreds of thousands of protesters. That same day, the Party of Regions plans a pro-government demonstration that it claims will bring 200,000 people to Kiev.
The prospect of a huge crowd of government backers in the vicinity of protesters has raised fears of more clashes between protesters and police. Information for this article was contributed by David M. Herszenhorn and Oksana Lyachynska of The New York Times and by Jim Heintz,Yuras Karmanau and Dalton Bennett of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 10 on 12/14/2013