Protesters gradually leave Hong Kong streets

Crowds of protesters in Hong Kong started to thin out dramatically on Tuesday, with only a few dozen students still holding some stretches of occupied highway and traffic, RIA Novosti reported, citing The Associated Press.

"It's up to the government now. This is the first step, but the pressure has to continue," student leader Alex Chow said as quoted by AP, referring to the agreement reached last night between student leaders and government officials to hold talks in the coming days.

After an hour-long meeting late Monday, the Federation of Students' deputy leader, Lester Shum, said he had agreed with Lau Kong-wah, Hong Kong's undersecretary for constitutional and mainland affairs, that there would be multiple rounds of talks and the two sides would enter discussions on an equal footing.

The exact date for the talks has not been set yet.