Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych has accepted
the resignation of the prime minister and his cabinet
amid continuing anti-government protests.
Mykola Azarov had offered to step down as prime
minister to create "social and political compromise".
The move came after the Ukrainian parliament voted
overwhelmingly to annul a controversial anti-protest
law.
The protests have spread in recent days across Ukraine,
even to President Yanukovych's stronghold in the east.
Official buildings in several cities have been occupied.
Tuesday saw the interior ministry report that three
protesters had stabbed and wounded three policemen in
the southern city of Kherson, one of whom later died.
In total, at least five people have been killed in violence
linked to the protests.
Parliament - holding an emergency debate on the crisis
- voted by 361 to 2 to repeal the protest legislation,
which among other measures banned the wearing of
helmets by protesters and the blockading of public
buildings.
The law had helped fuel the demonstrations which
began in Independence Square in the capital, Kiev, after
Mr Yanukovych pulled out of a planned trade deal with
the European Union last November in favour of a $15bn
(£9bn) bailout from Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at an EU-
Russia summit in Brussels, said all the agreements
reached with Mr Azarov would remain in place despite
the resignation even if the opposition formed the next
government.
The loan was to "support the people of Ukraine, not the
government. It's the people, the common people that
suffer", he told a news conference after talks with EU
leaders.
MPs had applauded in parliament as the result of the
annulment vote was announced.
There was a similar response in Kiev's Independence
Square, which remains the focal point of the
demonstrations.
A BBC correspondent who went to the square described
it as relatively quiet with no sign of the recent violence
which has affected parts of central Kiev.
Parliament adjourned after the vote on the protest law
and discussions on the issue of granting an amnesty to
convicted protesters proved inconclusive.
Mr Yanukovych had offered an amnesty only if
protesters cleared barricades and stopped attacking
government buildings.
Anti-government protests continue in Kiev and across
Ukraine
Riot police have clashed violently with protesters on
many occasions since the demonstrations began
In his resignation statement, Prime Minister Azarov
said: "To create additional opportunities for social and
political compromise and for a peaceful solution to the
conflict, I made a personal decision to ask the president
of Ukraine to accept my resignation as prime minister of
Ukraine."
The government had "done everything to ensure the
peaceful resolution of the conflict" and would do
"everything possible to prevent bloodshed, an escalation
of violence, and violation of citizen's rights", he said.
The BBC's David Stern, in Kiev, says that two weeks
ago, Mr Azarov's resignation would have been
unthinkable.
Despite the president accepting their resignations, the
cabinet can remain in their posts for 60 days until a new
government is formed.
President Yanukovych had already offered Mr Azarov's
job to the opposition at the weekend, proposing that
Fatherland leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk take the post. Mr
Yatsenyuk declined the offer.
Meanwhile, top EU diplomat Catherine Ashton has
brought forward a planned visit to Ukraine by 48 hours
and will now arrive on Tuesday for meetings with Mr
Yanukovych and opposition leaders.
She said she was "alarmed" by reports on Monday that
the government was preparing to introduce a state of
emergency. Officials have denied any such plan.
Baroness Ashton arrives from Brussels after attending
the EU-Russia summit.
After meeting Mr Putin at the summit, European Council
President Herman Van Rompuy said: "The European
Union is closely following the events in Ukraine and
strongly condemns violence.
"We call for restraint and those responsible to be held
to account."
Parliament voted to abandon a law it passed just two
weeks ago
Outside parliament, Yanukovych supporters held a
demonstration condemning the protests
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