Ukraine's capital Kiev gripped by huge pro-EU demonstration
BBC News online -- 8 December 2013
The BBC's David Stern: "This is the third Sunday in a row that we've seen a giant crowd in the centre of Kiev"
Hundreds
of thousands of people have taken to the streets in the Ukrainian
capital Kiev seeking the resignation of the government for refusing a
deal on closer ties with the European Union.
Mr Yanukovych has said he shelved the EU deal after Russian opposition.
President Vladimir Putin has urged Kiev to join a Russian-led customs union.
In another development on Sunday, the Ukrainian Security Service said it was investigating some politicians on suspicion of what it called "actions aimed at seizing state power".
It did not name the politicians.
Both Russia and Ukraine denied that the issue of Kiev joining the customs union along with Belarus and Kazakhstan came up during the Putin-Yanukovych meeting in Sochi, in southern Russia.
Correspondents had earlier
speculated that an agreement on Ukraine joining the customs union might
be reached in return for reduced energy prices.
Ukraine depends on imports of Russian gas, but the supplier, Gazprom, has recently complained that Kiev had fallen behind in payments.
Disputes over supplies to Ukraine before 2009 saw Gazprom temporarily cutting off supplies.
Pipelines passing through Ukraine also pump Russian gas to many EU member states.
The protests are now in their third week
The main demand of the demonstrators is the resignation of the government
Outside the presidential office, a man was playing an EU-decorated piano in front of policemen
Some demonstrators have come out prepared after clashes with police last week left many injured
Russia-Ukraine ties
- 1991: Independence from the Soviet Union declared
- 1997: Friendship treaty with Russia and agreement on Black Sea fleet.
- Nov 2004: Moscow-backed candidate Viktor Yanukovych declared president after poll, despite reports of massive fraud. Opposition launches mass protests, dubbed the Orange Revolution
- Dec 2004: Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko wins re-run
- 2009: Russia briefly stops gas supplies to Ukraine in row over pricing
- 2010: Yanukovych wins presidential election
- July 2013: Russia restricts imports from Ukraine, as Kiev seeks closer EU ties
- Nov 2013: President Yanukovych reverses decision to sign EU deal, triggering mass protests
Waving EU and Ukrainian flags,
protesters on Sunday congregated on Kiev's Independence Square - the
scene of previous clashes with police.
The opposition party of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has urged people to "chase" the president "until he falls".
"We are on a razor's edge between a final plunge into cruel dictatorship and a return home to the European community," Mrs Tymoshenko said in a message to the crowd read out by her daughter.
"Don't give in, not a step back, don't give up, the future of Ukraine is in your hands," the message read.
Another opposition leader, Oleh Tyahnybok, said: "It's not just a simple revolution. It's a revolution of dignity."
Opposition MP Serhiy Pashynskyy said that "starting from today and until our demands are met, the government quarter will be blocked with protest rallies".
The protests are the largest since the pro-democracy Orange Revolution in 2004.
A smaller pro-government rally was held close to the opposition march. Police separated the rival protesters.
Labels: European Union, Russia, Ukraine
posted by Pieface @ Sunday, December 08, 2013
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