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| Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych defiant amid turmoil | Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych defiant amid turmoil |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has insisted that he and his government are doing all they can to solve the crisis in the country. | |
| But the political opposition continued to "whip up" the situation, he added. | But the political opposition continued to "whip up" the situation, he added. |
| The statement was issued in Ukrainian on the presidential website after weeks of often-violent anti-government protests in Kiev and other cities led to a series of government concessions. | |
| It followed an announcement that Mr Yanukovych, 63, was on sick leave. | It followed an announcement that Mr Yanukovych, 63, was on sick leave. |
| The presidential website said he had a respiratory illness and a high fever. | The presidential website said he had a respiratory illness and a high fever. |
| The protests began in November after President Yanukovych reversed a decision to sign a trade deal with the European Union, instead favouring a bailout deal with Russia to underpin Ukraine's ailing economy. | |
| Anti-government protesters demanding the president's resignation are still occupying government buildings and manning barricades in freezing temperatures in the centre of the capital Kiev. | |
| The past week has seen President Yanukovych accept the resignation of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and his cabinet, and offer senior jobs to the opposition - offers that were rejected. | |
| The country's parliament has also voted to annul a recently enacted law restricting protests - which appeared to be inflaming the situation - and passed a law giving amnesty to detained protesters, under the condition that occupied buildings were vacated. | |
| "We have fulfilled all the obligations which the authorities took on themselves," President Yanukovych said in the statement. | "We have fulfilled all the obligations which the authorities took on themselves," President Yanukovych said in the statement. |
| "However, the opposition continues to whip up the situation calling on people to stand in the cold for the sake of the political ambitions of a few leaders. I think this is wrong." | "However, the opposition continues to whip up the situation calling on people to stand in the cold for the sake of the political ambitions of a few leaders. I think this is wrong." |
| However, striking a more conciliatory note, he added: "From my side, I will show more understanding to the demands and ambitions of people, taking into account the mistakes that authorities always make... I think that we can together return the life of Ukraine and its people to peace." | |
| The EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, is in Kiev for talks with both sides. On Wednesday she said she was "shocked" by the violence in the capital and across the country in recent weeks that has left several protesters and police officers dead. | |
| She said Ukraine needed "a political process that is engaged in quickly and properly by everyone", adding: "The responsibility is inevitably going to fall on government to do that as quickly as possible." | |
| Moscow, meanwhile, has indicated that it may hold back some of a promised bailout package until a new government is formed. | |
| The loans, totalling $15bn (£9.2bn; 10.9bn euros), were widely seen as a reward for Kiev's rejection of the EU deal. |