December 11, 2013 -- Updated 1317 GMT (2117 HKT)
Riot police moved in on pro-Western protesters in the center of the
Ukrainian capital, Kiev, with force in the early hours of Wednesday,
leading to reports of injuries on both sides. FULL STORY
Defiant Ukraine protesters rebuild barricades after police crackdown
December 11, 2013 -- Updated 1410 GMT (2210 HKT)
Ukraine protesters clash with police
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: "We believe there is a way out for Ukraine," says U.S. assistant secretary of state
- Interior minister says there will be no crackdown on protest, state media reports
- Riot police tore down barricades manned by protesters overnight in the heart of Kiev
- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry voices U.S. "disgust" with authorities' actions
Hundreds of officers used
chainsaws and brute force to pull down the barriers manned by
pro-Western demonstrators around the city's Independence Square, or
Maidan, in the early hours.
Footage from the scene
showed a mass of black-helmeted, heavily armored riot police advancing
toward the protesters, who wore orange helmets. Clashes led to reports
of injuries from both sides.
Thousands of
demonstrators have been camped out in the snow-covered Independence
Square for days, angry about the refusal of Ukraine's Russian-allied
President, Viktor Yanukovych, to sign an agreement that would strengthen
cooperation with the European Union.
Photos: Ukraine protests
Clashes in the streets of Kiev
The predawn crackdown on the protest prompted a chorus of condemnation from Western leaders.
But U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, after a two-hour meeting with
Yanukovych on Wednesday, said there was still "a way out" for his
government.
"It was a tough
conversation, but it was a realistic one," she told reporters in Kiev.
"I made it absolutely clear to him that what happened last night, what
has been happening in security terms here, is absolutely impermissible
in a European state, in a democratic state.
"But we also made clear
that we believe there is a way out for Ukraine, that it is still
possible to save Ukraine's European future and that is what we want to
see the President lead."
A picture posted to
Twitter by the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoff Pyatt, showed Nuland
handing out food earlier Wednesday to security forces and protesters in
the square.
Interior minister: 'No crackdown'
Mid-morning Wednesday,
Ukrainian Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko said that there would
be no attempt to disperse the protest and that police were just trying
to keep the roads clear.
"I want to reassure
everyone -- there will be no crackdown of the Maidan," he said,
according to the official Ukrinform news agency.
"Nobody is infringing on
citizens' right to peaceful protests. However, one cannot ignore the
rights and lawful interests of other citizens."
The Interior Ministry
earlier said 10 policemen were injured between 1 and 4 a.m. while acting
on a court order to dislodge protesters from the city center and allow
free movement of traffic.
It's not clear whether the interior minister's words will cool protesters' anger in Ukraine.
Ukrainian opposition
leader Vitali Klitschko, a former heavyweight boxing champion, said
Yanukovych had "burned the bridge to a civilized resolution of the
political crisis," according to his Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for
Reform party.
Klitschko said the
demonstrators' goals are "a full reload of the government and punishment
for those guilty in clearing up the protests."
Meanwhile, Ukrainian
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov told a government meeting Wednesday that
Ukraine was still open to signing the European integration deal if the
European Union agreed to provide financial assistance to Ukraine of
around 20 billion euros ($27.5 billion.)
He suggested European
officials were more interested in monitoring the protests than in
discussing a financial deal that would benefit the Ukrainian people,
according to a government news release.
U.S. 'disgust' at crackdown
In a strongly worded statement, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the authorities' crackdown on protesters.
"The United States
expresses its disgust with the decision of Ukrainian authorities to meet
the peaceful protest in Kyiv's Maidan Square with riot police,
bulldozers, and batons, rather than with respect for democratic rights
and human dignity," he said. "This response is neither acceptable nor
does it befit a democracy."
Kerry urged the "utmost restraint" by the authorities, saying "human life must be protected."
UK Foreign Secretary
William Hague said he was "deeply concerned" about the Ukraine
government's decision to send in riot police against peaceful
protesters.
"The concerns of protesters should be met with dialogue, not violence," he said.
The police crackdown
came only hours after EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton also held
lengthy talks with Yanukovych and visited the protest site in the
central square.
Her spokeswoman, Maja
Kocijancic, tweeted a statement from Ashton, who is still in Kiev,
voicing her concern that police had moved in under cover of darkness to
take on the protesters with force.
"I was among you on
Maidan in the evening and was impressed by the determination of
Ukrainians demonstrating for the European perspective of their country,"
she said. "Some hours later I observe with sadness that police uses
force (to) remove peaceful people from Kiev center."
Ashton also met with opposition leaders Tuesday.
The scenes of protest
have become reminiscent of the uprising that swept Yanukovych out of
office nine years ago during the Orange Revolution, when he was prime
minister.
East vs. West
Yanukovych's refusal to sign the EU deal represents a U-turn in the country's advance toward closer relations with the West.
An EU agreement would
have opened borders to trade and set the stage for modernization and
inclusion, protesters say. They accuse Yanukovych of preparing to take
the country into a Moscow-led customs union.
Moscow has leverage that
may have affected Yanukovych's decision to backpedal on the EU talks.
Russia supplies Ukraine with natural gas, which is essential to keep
people from freezing in the country's brutal winters.
Moscow can increase Ukraine's energy bills and impose other trade sanctions.
Yanukovych referred to
that threat Tuesday at a televised roundtable, saying he was "strongly
against opposing relations with Europe in favor of relations with Russia
and vice versa.
"We need to find a way
to reunite. I think Europe will sleep peacefully in warmth if Ukraine
has good relations with Russia, if there are no such conflicts like when
we were shut off from gas."
The EU is also
pressuring Yanukovych to free his chief political opponent, Yulia
Tymoshenko, who has languished in jail for two years after being
convicted of abuse of power in 2011. The verdict was decried by the EU
and other critics as a sham.
The Orange Revolution that swept Yanukovych from office in 2004 also brought the pro-Western Tymoshenko to power.
Many of the protesters have carried her picture in Independence Square during the rallies.
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