The agreement between the authorities and the opposition on the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine was signed in Kyiv on Friday by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and the leaders of the three opposition factions of the Ukrainian parliament - Vitali Klitschko, Arseniy Yatseniuk and Oleh Tiahnybok.

The signing of the agreement was witnessed by representatives of the European Union – Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, as well as head of the Director for Continental Europe of the French Foreign Ministry Eric Fournier.

Prior to signing, the attendees followed Tiahnybok's suggestion and observed a minute of silence in memory of those killed in Ukraine on Thursday, an Interfax correspondent said.

The ceremony was also attended by Presidential Administration Chief Andriy Kliuyev, Verkhovna Rada Speaker Volodymyr Rybak, Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara and foreign ambassadors. The agreement conclusion was met with applause from the attendees.

The draft agreement was published by media outlets earlier.

The document stipulates that within 48 hours from the signing of the agreement, a special law will be passed, signed and published, which will renew the 2004 Constitution with changes made until now. The signatories stated their intention to form a national unity coalition over the next ten days.

The constitutional reform, which will balance the powers of the president, government and parliament will be launched immediately and completed in September 2014.

The presidential election will be held after the new Constitution is passed, but no later than December 2014. New election laws will be passed, and new Central Election Commission formed on a proportionate basis in accordance with the rules of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Venice Commission.

The recent acts of violence will be investigated under the joint monitoring of the authorities, the opposition and the Council of Europe.

The authorities will not impose a state of emergency. The authorities and opposition will refrain from violent actions.

Rada will pass a third law on exemptions from liability, which will extend to the same offences that were stipulated in the law which came into effect on February 17, 2014.

Illegal weapons must be surrendered to the police within 24 hours after this agreement takes effect.

We have initiated a return to the 2004 Constitution and an early presidential election to settle the domestic situation, President Yanukovych said a statement on Friday. Also, we are about to launch the procedure of forming a government of people's trust, he said.