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| EU halts work on Ukraine trade deal | EU halts work on Ukraine trade deal |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The European Union has suspended work on a trade and association agreement with Ukraine after failing to get a "clear commitment" from President Viktor Yanukovych to sign it. | |
| Mr Yanukovych - apparently under pressure from Russia - backed out of signing it in November. | Mr Yanukovych - apparently under pressure from Russia - backed out of signing it in November. |
| But Ukraine and the EU had said they would continue negotiating. | |
| Tens of thousands of people are again protesting in Kiev against Mr Yanukovych's failure to sign. | Tens of thousands of people are again protesting in Kiev against Mr Yanukovych's failure to sign. |
| This is the latest in a series of demonstrations over the past few weeks by the opposition who see Ukraine's future as part of the EU rather than aligned with Russia. | |
| Sunday's protests are taking place near pro-government rallies, raising fears of possible clashes between the two groups, the BBC's David Stern reports from Kiev. | Sunday's protests are taking place near pro-government rallies, raising fears of possible clashes between the two groups, the BBC's David Stern reports from Kiev. |
| The series of protests, the largest since Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution, are designed to push Mr Yanukovych to dismiss his government and call fresh elections, opposition leaders say. | The series of protests, the largest since Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution, are designed to push Mr Yanukovych to dismiss his government and call fresh elections, opposition leaders say. |
| The focus is again Kiev's Independence Square where opposition supporters continue to mount barricades. | |
| Make-shift barriers around the perimeter of the main protest encampment have been strengthened following an attempt by special police to dismantle them earlier this week. | |
| Opposition leaders have urged protesters to remain vigilant, fearing "provocateurs" could trigger clashes between rival demonstrators. | |
| The EU's frustration at the Ukrainian president's position on reaching a deal with the bloc was evident in a tweet from EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele announcing the suspension of talks. | The EU's frustration at the Ukrainian president's position on reaching a deal with the bloc was evident in a tweet from EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele announcing the suspension of talks. |
| "Work on hold," he tweeted, adding that he had told Deputy PM Sergiy Arbuzov that Ukraine needed to show a "clear commitment to sign". | |
| Mr Yanukovych has said he fears the association and trade agreement will put at risk many enterprises dependent on trade with Russia. | |
| The president - who says he eventually aims to sign the deal - has also admitted being under heavy pressure from Moscow, which wants Kiev to join a Russian-led customs union instead. | |
| He has said the EU would need to provide at least 20bn euros (£17bn; $27bn) a year to upgrade Ukraine's economy. | |
| Moscow has already put economic pressure on Ukraine, with customs delays and a ban on Ukrainian chocolates, and there are concerns it could escalate such measures if Kiev drew closer to Brussels. | |
| A leading voice on United States foreign policy, Republican Senator John McCain, is in Kiev where he addressed the protesters. | |
| "Ukraine will make Europe better and Europe will make Ukraine better," he told them. | |
| "We are here to support your just cause, the sovereign right of Ukraine to determine its own destiny freely and independently. And the destiny you seek lies in Europe," he said. |