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Ukraine: Peaceful methods to solve Kiev stand-offs have proved futile, warns minister Ukraine: President Viktor Yanukovich meeting opposition leaders for third time this week in attempt to defuse stand-off
(about 7 hours later)
Ukraine’s interior minister says attempts to use peaceful means to solve the stand-off with protesters in Kiev have been futile, accusing the opposition of stockpiling arms in protest camps in the centre of the city and encouraging assaults on police. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich is meeting opposition leaders tonight - the third time this week - in an attempt to defuse the tense stand-off between protesters and authorities.
Vitaly Zakharchenko said the anti-government protesters “don’t want to disassociate themselves from radical forces” and were “exposing Ukrainians to danger”, according to a statement on the Interior Ministry website on Saturday. The mass protests descended into violence again today, with demonstrators at a series of barricades near Kiev Dynamo stadium throwing rocks at police.
Opposition members have denied the claims, and accuse authorities of using brutal force against protesters. The Interior Ministry was forced to apologise earlier this week after video footage surfaced of police assaulting a demonstrator after forcing him to strip naked in freezing conditions. Two police officers were released after being kidnapped by opposition protesters, according to the Interior Minister. Vitaly Zakharchenko said the officers had been tortured during their ordeal and were now in hospital. He thanked peaceful protesters and the “foreign countries’ ambassadors” for brokering their release, warning opposition leaders that the standoff in Ukraine is “not a war game”.
The claims from the Interior Ministry came as activists said they had seized another government building in the centre of Kiev, and more protests were reported in regional areas, as the protests continue to spread across the country. has threatened “consequences” if the government fails to take steps to scale down the confrontation. With activists seizing another government building in the Kiev on Saturday morning – this time the country’s Energy Ministry – as well as protests erupting in at least six other across the country, the government is facing what appears to be a growing backlash not just in the capital, but in the provinces too.
“People should not think that the government lacks available resources to put an end to this,” Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, who is regarded as a hardliner, and has dismissed protesters as “terrorists” said. “It is our constitutional right and obligation to restore order in the country.”
Mr Yanukovich offered some concessions on Friday, including amending anti-protest laws, involving opposition leaders in an ‘anti-crisis’ committee and reshuffling his cabinet. Vitali Klitschko, the world champion boxer turned politician, said the protests would not end unless Mr Yanukovich resigns. Mr Klitschko is leader of Udar (Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform), one of Ukraine’s three main opposition groups, which are demanding early elections.