On February 21, in talks that were brokered by the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland and witnessed by Putin’s representative on the spot, Yanukovych was offered the protection of his office until new presidential elections were held at the end of 2014. But as support from within his party and the security forces melted away, he thought better of taking the risk.46 He too remembered Gaddafi’s fate. Early in the morning on February 22 he fled, leaving a vacuum.
