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Ukraine Leader Calls for Talks With Protesters Ukraine Steps Up Pressure on Protesters
(about 2 hours later)
KIEV, Ukraine — Moving after two weeks to defuse a wide-scale civic uprising, President Viktor F. Yanukovich on Monday said that he would accept a proposal by three predecessors to hold “a national round table for finding a compromise” and that initial discussions would begin on Tuesday. KIEV, Ukraine — Even as Ukraine’s besieged president on Monday said he would be open to talks with protest leaders, the situation on Kiev’s streets took on an ominous tone, with security forces raiding an opposition party’s headquarters and beginning to push on the edges of a continuing mass demonstration.
Although protesters have been eager for some sign that the government has heard their demands, it was not immediately clear how they would react to the proposed round-table talks. Many are deeply skeptical that organized politicians will be able to deliver the changes that they seek, including steps to eradicate corruption and cronyism in the government, to reform the judicial system and generally improve the quality of life in the country. After seeming to lose control of Kiev on Sunday night following a huge rally of hundreds of thousands of people in Independence Square, police forces redeployed on Monday and began efforts to push protesters out of streets near main government buildings. Battalions of police officers moved in and took up positions just outside the square’s perimeter.
Ukraine’s first president, Leonid Kravchuk, who was given credit by Mr. Yanukovich’s office for pushing the idea of round-table discussions, said at a news conference last week that he did not see any reason to justify the resignation of the government — one of the central demands of the demonstrators who have poured into Kiev from around the country. Then, early Monday evening, the Ukrainian security service raided the headquarters of the opposition Fatherland Party and seized computer servers.
Still, the announcement offered a first glimmer of a way out of the crisis, after two weeks in which Mr. Yanukovich largely waved off the growing national uproar. The party’s parliamentary leader, Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, is one of the main organizers of the protest movement, which has ballooned in recent days to dominate the streets of Kiev and pressure President Viktor F. Yanukovich after he refused to sign a trade deal with the European Union. But the party is best known as the opposition coalition formed by the jailed former prime minister, Yulia V. Tymoshenko, whose release has long been demanded by Western leaders.
Even as Kiev convulsed in anger, he traveled to China on a state visit, then stopped in Russia to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin, further enraging the crowds already mad about the Kremlin’s role in pressuring Mr. Yanukovich to abandon far-reaching political and free-trade agreements with the European Union. On Sunday, the security service, known as the S.B.U., issued a curt statement saying that it had opened an investigation into possible treason charges against unnamed politicians. At a news conference with other protest leaders, Mr. Yatsenyuk said on Monday that he had been summoned for questioning on Tuesday.
Mr. Yanukovich’s willingness to begin negotiations, which his statement said would involve opposition leaders, came as battalions of police officers moved in and took up positions just outside the perimeter of Independence Square here, where hundreds of thousands of people have rallied against the government and demanded his resignation. So far, the authorities seem not to have begun similar investigations of the other two parliamentary leaders at the forefront of the protests, the champion boxer Vitali Klitschko, of the Udar party, and Oleg Tyganibok, of the nationalist Svoboda party. Mr. Tyagnibok’s supporters in particular are among the most fearsome involved in the demonstrations and have led some of the more provocative efforts to occupy buildings and block government offices.
The police mobilization immediately renewed fears among Western diplomats of further violence. The American ambassador in Kiev, Geoffrey R. Pyatt, quickly issued a statement on Twitter cautioning against a crackdown. “Peaceful demonstrators must be allowed to continue,” Mr. Pyatt wrote. “Dialogue and nonviolence key, world watching. Opportunity must not be lost.” “They came without any notice, without any explanations, fully armed,” said Natalia Lysova, a spokeswoman for Fatherland who often accompanies Ms. Tymoshenko’s daughter, Evgenia, at public appearances. “They broke the door, took all the servers and left.” Ms. Lysova said that the security officers did not arrest anyone.
The Ukrainian authorities on Monday shut three main subway stations, including the two located directly under the main protest site. In a statement posted on the Interior Ministry website, officials said that they had acted in response to bomb threats. Any sense that Mr. Yanukovich’s willingness to negotiate might defuse the crisis was quickly erased by the raid. Just hours before, he had signaled that he would accept a proposal by three predecessors to hold “a national round table for finding a compromise,” and that initial discussions would begin on Tuesday.
“We saw on the Internet today some statement about the round table,” Mr. Yatsenyuk said. “We would like to start by saying that it is very difficult to fit a round table into a square сell.”
He added: “We understood that this is the way Yanukovich invites us to the round table — a few thousands of Interior forces have arrived already, and I received a summon for interrogation from the General Prosecution Office.”
The raid and police remobilization brought a fresh round of warnings from Western leaders, who reacted in alarm after the security forces violently cracked down on protesters on Nov. 30.
The American ambassador in Kiev, Geoffrey R. Pyatt, quickly issued a statement on Twitter cautioning against a crackdown. “Peaceful demonstrators must be allowed to continue,” Mr. Pyatt wrote. “Dialogue and nonviolence key, world watching. Opportunity must not be lost.”
The European Union said that Catherine Ashton, the union’s foreign affairs chief, would travel to Kiev this week to try to ease tensions.
The security forces’ maneuvering on Monday came amid a driving snowstorm that added a frigid layer of chaos to this churning capital.
The growing protest movement here has largely been pushed by a grass-roots coalition of civic organizations and student groups, and many of the rank-and-file demonstrators are deeply skeptical that organized politicians will be able to deliver the changes that they seek.
These include steps to eradicate corruption and cronyism in the government, to reform the judicial system and generally improve the quality of life in the country.
At their news conference, Mr. Yatsenyuk, Mr. Klitschko and Mr. Tyagnibok reiterated their demands: the release of demonstrators who have been arrested, the punishment of government officials responsible for the violent crackdown on demonstrators on Nov. 30, and the dismissal of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and the rest of the government.
Those demands put them at odds with not only Mr. Yanukovich but also with Ukraine’s first president, Leonid Kravchuk, who was given credit by Mr. Yanukovich’s office for pushing the idea of round-table discussions.
Mr. Yanukovich’s three predecessors — Mr. Kravchuk, Leonid D. Kuchma and Viktor A. Yushchenko — issued a statement last week calling for “round-table” talks, using the same phrase that described negotiations that helped resolve Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution.
In the statement, the three sharply criticized the government for what they called the “hasty and spontaneous decision” to abandon sweeping political and free trade agreements with the European Union that Mr. Yanukovich had been promising that he would sign for more than a year. “A feeling of being cheated gives the rallies special emotional color and deepens distrust of the authorities,” they said.
They also criticized the crackdown on peaceful protesters on Nov. 30, calling the bloodshed unprecedented in Ukraine’s near quarter-century as an independent nation.
“The brutality with which the special police acted should be condemned not only publicly but also punished according to the Ukrainian legislation as totally unacceptable in a democracy,” the former presidents wrote.
The announcement of possible negotiations was the first glimmer of engagement by Mr. Yanukovich after more than two weeks in which he largely waved off the growing national uproar.
Even as Kiev convulsed in anger, he traveled to China on a state visit, then stopped in Russia to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin, further enraging the crowds already mad about the Kremlin’s role in pressuring Mr. Yanukovich to abandon the far-reaching political and free trade agreements with the European Union.
In other developments on Monday, the Ukrainian authorities shut three main subway stations, including the two located directly under the main protest site. In a statement posted on the Interior Ministry website, officials said that they had acted in response to bomb threats, and the stops were later reopened.
But as police buses moved into lines just outside the perimeter of Independence Square, and police officers took up new positions, demonstrators were bracing for an enforcement action. They scrambled to reinforce barricades, moving public benches, wood planks and anything else available, to add to the fortifications that have closed off the area for more than a week.But as police buses moved into lines just outside the perimeter of Independence Square, and police officers took up new positions, demonstrators were bracing for an enforcement action. They scrambled to reinforce barricades, moving public benches, wood planks and anything else available, to add to the fortifications that have closed off the area for more than a week.
Rumors that the police would emerge in force from the subway led to new barricades at the station entrances. Some demonstrators appeared to evacuate Kiev City Hall, which they had occupied, in the expectation that it would be an early target of any police action. A crowd gathered outside, including many television news crews, indicating that whatever might happen was likely to highly publicized. Rumors that the police would emerge in force from the subway led to new barricades at the station entrances. Some demonstrators appeared to evacuate Kiev City Hall, which they had occupied, in the expectation that it would be an early target of any police action. A crowd gathered outside, including many television news crews, indicating that whatever might happen was likely to be highly publicized.
At Independence Square, a crowd of several thousand people continued to mill about, a day after protesters held a huge rally, swarmed the streets of the city and toppled and smashed a statue of Lenin. Religious leaders held a service on the main protest stage, chanting prayers and singing hymns.At Independence Square, a crowd of several thousand people continued to mill about, a day after protesters held a huge rally, swarmed the streets of the city and toppled and smashed a statue of Lenin. Religious leaders held a service on the main protest stage, chanting prayers and singing hymns.
Mr. Yanukovich’s three predecessors — Mr. Kravchuk, Leonid D. Kuchma and Viktor A. Yushchenko — issued a statement last week calling for “round-table” talks, using the same phrase that described negotiations that helped resolve Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution.

Andrew E. Kramer and Oksana Lyachynska contributed reporting.

In the statement, the three sharply criticized the government for what they called the “hasty and spontaneous decision” to abandon sweeping political and free-trade agreements with the European Union that Mr. Yanukovich had been promising that he would sign for more than a year. “A feeling of being cheated gives the rallies special emotional color and deepens distrust of the authorities,” they said.
They also criticized the government for a violent crackdown on peaceful protesters on Nov. 30, calling the bloodshed unprecedented in Ukraine’s near quarter-century as an independent nation.
“The brutality with which the special police acted should be condemned not only publicly but also punished according to the Ukrainian legislation, as totally unacceptable in a democracy,” the former presidents wrote.
Senior government officials had promised Western diplomats that they would not seek to oust peaceful protesters by force. But the events of Sunday may have changed those calculations, as the authorities seemed to lose control of large swaths of the capital.
At the height of the unrest on Sunday night, a seething crowd brought down a statue of Lenin, the most prominent monument to the Communist leader in Kiev.
After an emotional assembly in Independence Square in the center of Kiev, the main focus of the protests, the huge crowd surged across the capital, erecting barriers to block the streets around the presidential headquarters and pitching huge tents in strategic intersections.
They were not challenged by the police, who have largely disengaged since the Nov. 30 crackdown.
International concern over the unrest in Ukraine appeared to deepen on Sunday, as the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, telephoned Mr. Yanukovich, and Western leaders continued to call on him to respond to the demonstrators’ demands.
The European Union has been eager to draw Ukraine, a nation of 46 million, into a closer alliance with the West, while Russia has sought to safeguard its major economic and political interests in its close neighbor. Making the crisis more acute, Ukraine is teetering on bankruptcy and is desperate for financial assistance from abroad.

Andrew E. Kramer and Oksana Lyachynska contributed reporting