Prime Minister Mykola Azarov admitted on Dec. 2 that his government was helpless to handle mass protests in the streets of Kyiv that have lasted for more than a week, and said they looked like a coup.
At the same time, President Vitkor Yanukovych reached out to Europe for a new deal after failing to sign an agreement last week. The government's failure caused outrage and mass protests across the country.
“The mass character of protests has grown to be unmanageable, or rather manageable by certain political forces,” Azarov said at a meeting with U.S. and EU ambassadors.
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been protesting against the government since Nov. 21, when it took a decision to reverse preparations to sing a comprehensive agreement with Europe in favor of closer ties in Russia.
The protests grew stronger after police used brutal force to break up a crowd of several hundred peaceful protesters, mostly students, in the middle of the night on Nov. 30. Once again, excessive violence was used during clashes on Dec. 1, when an estimated 350,000 people came out to the streets.
Hundreds were injured on both sides, including 36 journalists. The opposition claimed the clashes were instigated by pro-government forces, not peaceful protesters.
Now the situation has changed. On one hand, we are not taking responsibility from the law enforcers, but on the other hand, the politicians who joined this action have sharply radicalized the situation,” Azarov told the ambassadors, according to Interfax-Ukraine.
Azarov's comments come on the eve of a no-confidence vote, which is set to take place in parliament on Dec. 3. The likely outcome of the vote is not clear as the opposition has no majority in parliament, while the ruling party of regions – although in disarray – is not likely to support a no-confidence motion against its own party leader Azarov.
In the meantime, President Yanukovych called President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso to discuss the riots that have been raging across the country.
Barosso told Yanukovych that “a peaceful and political solution is the only way for Ukraine out of the current situation,” the press service of EU Commission reported.
He also advised Yanukovych to immediately investigate “the use of force by the police,” respect civil rights and liberties and “urgently engage with all relevant political forces.”
Yanukovych, on his part, asked the European Commission to receive a delegation from Ukraine to discuss a deal with the EU, preparations to which were stopped by initiative of Ukraine’s government weeks ago.
Barosso agreed, but “he underlined that the European Commission stands ready to discuss aspects of implementation related to the agreements already initialed, but not to re-open any kind of negotiations,” the report said.
Azrov said that his First Deputy Serhiy Arbuzov will travel to Brussels to negotiate the deal. It was not immediately clear when the trip will take place. President Yanukovych, however, is scheduled to visit Russia after his trip to China, which starts on Dec. 3.
CULLED from kyivpost
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