You're reading: Kravchuk: Ukrainian opposition leaders must persuade rioters to end violence

Ukrainian opposition leaders must urge protestors to stop armed resistance and prevent the use of force, the country's first president Leonid Kravchuk (1990-1994) said.

“Today the situation is simply awful. Already one cannot call it
political. This is a standoff turning into an armed uprising. Firearms
and cold weapons are being used. People are losing not only their faith
in the future, but also they fear for their lives. I am asking these
leaders: Yatseniuk, Klitschko, and Tiahnybok to urge protestors to stop
armed resistance,” Kravchuk said in a statement obtained by Interfax on
Tuesday.

That the force is being used to force deputies to vote the way the
opposition wants them to is unacceptable, he said. “That is already
something extreme,” Kravchuk said.

The responsibility for today’s events lies with the opposition leaders, he said.