Ukraine president to return from sick leave
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is set to return to work from a sick leave as protests continue against his government.
According to an announcement made by Yanukovych’s office late on Sunday, the president will return from the sick leave on Monday.
The president’s office on Thursday announced the leader had fallen ill with an “acute respiratory infection.”
The Sunday announcement came as around 20,000 protesters seeking the president’s resignation gathered at Independence Square in the capital Kiev on Sunday.
Top opposition figures also urged the protesters to push forward with their demands.
Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk called for the release of all people arrested during the protests in the country, saying, “We must free all.”
He added that as many as 116 people are being held, saying, “Freedom to every hero.”
World boxing champion and opposition leader Vitali Klitschko also said, “The crisis will end at last when under the auspices of the international community we will hold new elections that will stop the regime of Yanukovych.”
The opposition leaders also urged the protesters to press for more concessions from Yanukovych, including the formation of a new government.
The Ukrainian president has already granted his opponents a series of concessions, including an amnesty for jailed demonstrators, except for those who were suspected of committing major crimes, in order to calm the situation in the country.
He also offered top government positions to the opposition leaders last month, which they rejected. Yanukovych also pledged to change the constitution to reduce the president’s powers, following his decision to scrap an anti-protest law.
Ukraine has been rocked by anti-government protests since the Ukrainian president refrained from signing an Association Agreement with the EU at the third Eastern Partnership Summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, on November 29, 2013.
Kiev refused to sign the agreement after EU leaders called on Ukraine to allow jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko to travel overseas for medical treatment.
