CRI听力:Yanukovych Calls for Special Parliament Session

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has called for an emergency parliamentary session in an attempt to diffuse his country's growing political unrest.

Yanukovych has made the call during talks with Ukraine's parliamentary speaker.

"The situation requires urgent resolution. First of all we all need to act within the law, and second there is that political space, the parliament. So I would like to ask you to call the deputies together to discuss this question because the negotiations I'm having with the opposition is one part of resolving the situation and the other is that the discussion needs to be moved to the parliament."

Yanukovych has also met with opposition leaders, who gave the president a 24-hours deadline to make concessions or face renewed clashes.

Demonstrations spread outside the capital Kiev on Thursday.

Protesters stormed government offices in three western Ukraine cities, forcing one governor to write a letter of resignation.

The protests have turned violent in recent days, as pro-EU demonstrators say they feel Yanukovych has ignored their demands to resign, call a new election and rescind new legislation which bans certain protests.

At two protesters were killed in clashes with police on Wednesday.

The Ukrainian government is blaming the protesters for the upswing in violence.