Kiev: President Viktor Yanukovych on Friday pledged to reshuffle his government and amend controversial anti-protest laws to ease Ukraine`s crisis, after losing control of local administrations across the west of the country.
With the ex-Soviet state in shock after five days of deadly clashes, Yanukovych vowed to press on with talks with the opposition but warned he would use "all legal methods" if no solution was found.
The protesters occupying the city centre of the capital Kiev showed no sign of yielding and extended their barricades close to the presidential administration.
Clashes that started Sunday on Grushevsky Street on the fringes of the main protest zone in central Kiev had left five dead, according to activists.
The authorities have only confirmed that two died from gunshot wounds, one a Ukrainian of Armenian origin and one a Belarussian citizen. But police have insisted they were not killed by fire from security forces.
In one of the biggest blows to Yanukovych of the crisis so far, protesters seized control of regional administrations in six regions in anti-government and pro-EU western Ukraine.
These included the key Lviv region on the border with Poland which protesters had stormed and seized in the first such action yesterday.
In the western region of Ivano-Frankivsk, thousands of protesters yesterday stormed the regional administration and managed to occupy two floors of the building despite clashes with police who used tear gas.
By yesterday afternoon, protesters were also controlling regional administrations in Ternopil, Rivne, Khmelnytsky and Chernivtsi, all in the west of the country.
However in Cherkasy south of Kiev protesters seized the regional administration building but were then forcefully removed by security forces.
Yanukovych has been holding talks over the last two days with opposition leaders but it remains unclear if his concessions will be enough for protesters, many of whom simply want the president to resign.
