01/02/2014 10:57
Ukraine opposition leader urges West to act
A senior Ukrainian opposition leader has called for the West to give more support to help solve his country's political crisis, the BBC reported.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Ukraine needed "a Marshall Plan, not martial law," referring to the post-World War Two US aid programme for Europe.
Mr Yatsenyuk has been talking to foreign leaders on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to meet him on Saturday.
Ukraine has been in turmoil since November, when President Viktor Yanukovych pulled out of an agreement with the EU in favour of a Russian bailout.
Protesters have since occupied some government buildings in the capital Kiev and other cities.
After talks with German President Joachim Gauck and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday, Mr Yatsenyuk told the Agence France-Presse news agency: "Our German partners expressed their words of support to the Ukrainian people in their fight for freedoms and liberties."
He added: "Ukraine desperately needs a Marshall Plan and not martial law in order to stabilise the political and economic situation in the country."