As
the violence explodes and heavy smoke from burning barricades at the
encampment belches into the sky, the foreign ministers of three European
countries are meeting with President Viktor Yanukovych, according to a
presidential aide. Earlier Thursday, a French Embassy spokeswoman said
the meeting was cancelled for security reasons, but a top Yanukovych aide later said the meeting was underway.
The two sides are locked in a battle over the identity of this nation
of 46 million, whose loyalties are divided between Russia and the West,
and parts of the country are in open revolt against the central
government.
The latest bout of street violence began Tuesday
when protesters attacked police lines and set fires outside parliament,
accusing Yanukovych of ignoring their demands to enact constitutional
reforms that would limit the president’s power — a key opposition
demand. Parliament, dominated by his supporters, was stalling on taking
up a constitutional reform to limit presidential powers.
In a
statement published early Thursday, the Ukrainian Health Ministry said
28 people have died and 287 have been hospitalized during the two days
of street violence. Protesters, who have set up a medical care facility
in a downtown cathedral, say the numbers are significantly higher.
Ukrainian police said Thursday that more than 20 officers have been
wounded by gunfire in the capital. A statement from the Interior
Ministry on Thursday said the gunfire appeared to be coming from the
national music conservatory, which is on the edge of the downtown square
housing an extensive protest tent camp. It did not say when the
officers were wounded, but added that they were receiving treatment on
Thursday.
Also Thursday, the parliament building was evacuated
because of fears protesters were preparing to storm it, said parliament
spokeswoman Irina Karnelyuk. The renewed clashes despite the declaration
of truce follow days of violence, the most deadly since protests kicked
off three months ago after Yanukovych shelved an association agreement
with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia. After
Yanukovych shelved the agreement with the EU, Russia announced a $15
billion bailout for Ukraine, whose economy is in tatters.
The
ongoing violence on the square Thursday indicates that more radical
elements among the protesters may be unwilling to observe the truce and
may not be mollified by the prospects of negotiations. Although the
initial weeks of protests were determinedly peaceful, radicals helped
drive an outburst of clashes with police in January in which at least
three people died, and the day of violence on Tuesday may have
radicalized many more.
Political and diplomatic maneuvering has
continued, with both Moscow and the West eager to gain influence over
this former Soviet republic. Three EU foreign ministers — from Germany,
France and Poland — are in Kiev Thursday speaking with both sides before
an emergency EU meeting in Brussels to consider sanctions against those
responsible for the recent violence in Ukraine.
President
Barack Obama also stepped in to condemn the violence, warning Wednesday
“there will be consequences” for Ukraine if it continues. The U.S. has
raised the prospect of joining with the EU to impose sanctions against
Ukraine.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, described the
violence as an attempted coup and even used the phrase “brown
revolution,” an allusion to the Nazi rise to power in Germany in 1933.
The ministry said Russia would use “all our influence to restore peace
and calm.”
Neither side had appeared willing to compromise,
with the opposition insisting on Yanukovych’s resignation and an early
election and the president apparently prepared to fight until the end.
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