Ukraine's president declared a "truce" in his nation, as well as the start of negotiations aimed at not only preventing further bloodshed but forging a lasting peace just before midnight Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.
The statement waws agreed upon with leaders of Ukraine's three top opposition parties and offered a welcome respite from the violence and acrimony emanating from the tumultuous Eastern European nation, the AP reported.
There have been talks before and there was a breakthrough as recently as four days ago, when protesters agreed to move out of Kiev's City Hall and unblock downtown streets before it collapsed in a bloody mess Tuesday on the streets of Kiev, according to the AP.
Authorities say at least 26 people including both protesters and police, were killed Tuesday, in fierce clashes centered around Kiev's Maidan, or Independence Square, the AP reported.
The scale of international outrage also has changed, according to the AP. After weeks of behind-the-scenes work and general calls for political solutions, Western leaders especially ramped up their pressure on Wednesday.
As U.S. President Barack Obama said, "We're going to be watching closely," the AP reported.
"We hold the Ukrainian government primarily responsible for making sure that it is dealing with peaceful protesters in an appropriate way, that the Ukrainian people are able to assemble and speak freely about their interests without fear of repression," Obama said, according to the AP.
Truce or not, protesters showed no indication that they were going anywhere and a ring of fire continued to burn along barricades around their camp in the city center, the AP reported.
Their cries against President Viktor Yanukovych also continued, according to the AP.
Protesters accuse him of scuttling an European Union trade pact to cozy up with Russia, resisting reforms to curb his power and stubbornly, heavy-handedly dealing with the opposition, the AP reported.
Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara said an opposition march Tuesday "ended with massive riots and aggressive and excessive attacks against the Ukrainian police," according to the AP.
The head of Ukraine's security service was even more forceful, accusing protesters of taking over government offices nationwide and looting 1,500 weapons and 100,000 rounds of ammunition, among other misdeeds, the AP reported.
"These are concrete acts of terror," Oleksander Yakimenko said in a statement announcing an anti-terrorism operation apparently targeting protesters, according to the AP. "Radical and extremist groups are now a real threat."
