Interfax: Ukrainian opposition says it will not join talks with authorities until its demands are met

KYIV. Dec 12 (Interfax) – Ukrainian opposition members are not going to engage in any dialogue with the authorities until their conditions are met, Svoboda (Freedom) opposition party leader Oleh Tyahnybok said.

“There can be no negotiations with these authorities until all of our demands are fulfilled and special operations units are withdrawn from Kyiv,” Tyahnybok said at a press briefing at the National Resistance Headquarters press center on Wednesday.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych earlier again invited all the country’s political forces for nationwide talks intended to resolve the political crisis.

“I invite representatives of all the political forces, priests and representatives of society for nationwide dialogue. I am personally ready to take part in such a roundtable,” Yanukovych said in a statement on Wednesday.

“For the sake of achieving compromise, I call on the opposition not to reject [talks], not to follow the path of confrontation and ultimatums,” the Ukrainian president said.

He also promised that the authorities would act “exclusively in compliance with the law and would never use force against peaceful assemblies.”