The Polish foreign minister has been filmed telling a protest leader that if the opposition did not sign up to a deal offered by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych "you'll have the army. You will all be dead".
Radoslaw Sikorski, one of three European foreign ministers who brokered Friday's agreement to end the bloody standoff, was emerging from talks with opposition leaders when he issued the stark warning.
"If you don't support this [deal] you'll have martial law, you'll have the army. You will all be dead," he said, in comments that were captured on film by ITV News.
When asked if he had managed to convince the opposition, the minister, clearly frustrated, muttered: "I don't know."
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The agreement, which calls for early presidential elections, the return of the 2004 constitution and the formation of a government of national unity, was the result of nearly 24 hours of non-stop shuttled diplomacy by the EU foreign ministers and a Russian government delegation headed by former ombudsman Vladimir Lukin.
“Good compromise for Ukraine. Gives peace a chance. Opens the way to reform and to Europe. Poland and EU support it,”Mr Sikorski posted on his Twitter page just before the signing ceremony.
Mr Yanukovych and the three opposition party leaders Arseny Yatsenyuk, Vitalty Klitchko, and Oleh Tyahnybok, finally signed at 4 PM.
