Ukraine opposition says it’s ready for talks but warns protesters may ‘snap’

Ukraine's main opposition parties said on Monday they're ready to continue talks with President Viktor Yanukovych's government but warned that the patience of protesters in the streets could "snap" at any moment.

Opposition leaders said in a joint statement that they are ready to negotiate "despite an attempt by the authorities to abandon the negotiations and declare a state of emergency."

Justice Minister Olena Lukash had warned on Monday that she could call for a state of emergency after radical protesters seized her ministry in the center of Kyiv.

The protesters said they left the ministry after Lukash's threat so as not to provoke the authorities.

More from GlobalPost: Ukraine protesters spurn president’s concessions

Dozens of radical protesters had forced their way into the ministry late Sunday past only a handful of guards who offered no resistance.

More protesters then rapidly came to the scene to build a barricade outside several meters high using sandbags filled with snow and rubbish containers, an AFP correspondent said.

GlobalPost Senior Correspondent Dan Peleschuk took these pictures of the captured Agricultural Ministry over the weekend:

"I will be forced to ask the president of Ukraine to stop the talks if the building is not freed immediately and negotiators are not given a chance to find a peaceful solution to the conflict," Lukash told Inter channel.

Lukash also warned that she would approach Ukraine's national security council with "a demand to discuss imposing a state of emergency in this country."

The radical activists, from a group named Spilna Sprava (Common Cause), broke windows on the building and destroyed its official sign.

Lukash said they had sprayed water inside in freezing temperatures, "turning it into a veritable ice rink."

Despite the presidency offering the opposition a range of concessions, including a change in the constitution and the post of prime minister, protests have spread from the capital of Kyiv to other regions in Ukraine.

Ukraine's government expands deal with Russia

Meanwhile, Ukraine's government said on Monday it was extending a $3 billion eurobond for purchase by Russia by a further $2 billion under a $15 billion bailout package offered by Moscow to help the former Soviet republic out of an acute economic crisis.

The government said in a statement the terms would be the same as the $3 billion bond issued in December, meaning it would be over two years at an interest rate of 5 percent.

Russia agreed in December to extend the package of credits and cheaper gas weeks after Kyiv spurned a trade pact with the European Union, touching off anti-government protests which have since spiraled into violent unrest in the capital and other cities.

Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report.