KIEV, Jan 25 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian opposition leader who was offered the post of prime minister by embattled President Viktor Yanukovich on Saturday said the opposition was ready to lead the country.
"We are ready to take on this responsibility and take the country into the European Union," Arseny Yatsenyuk told crowds on Kiev's Independence Square after emerging from talks with Yanukovich.
But he added that this would entail the freeing of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko who was jailed in 2011.
Earlier on Saturday, Yanukovich, whose government is facing violent street protests against his rule, offered Yatsenyuk the post of head of government and proposed that another opposition leader, Vitaly Klitschko, be made a deputy prime minister for humanitarian issues.
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