Ukraine PM Warns of Use of Force Against Protesters
by VOA News January 21, 2014
Ukraine's prime minister, Mykola Azarov, is warning anti-government protesters that authorities may use force against them.
Azarov told Russia's Vesti 24 television Tuesday that if those he calls 'provocateurs' do not stop inciting clashes, officials will have no other choice.
He said he hopes common sense will prevail and that many issues can be resolved at the negotiating table.
Anti-government protesters marched through Kyiv for a third straight day Tuesday. Fighting between police and demonstrators has injured hundreds.
Ukrainians took the streets in response to President Viktor Yanukovych's decision in November to back out of a plan to sign a trade deal with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia.
At their peak late last year, protests in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, were drawing hundreds of thousands of people.
Rallies grew in size again last week when pro-Yanukovych lawmakers in parliament hastily passed restrictive anti-protest laws, which have been condemned by a number of Western governments as undemocratic.
Yanukovych has formed a working group of government representatives to meet with opposition leaders to address their grievances. The opposition demands to negotiate with Yanukovych directly.
Meanwhile, Moscow, Ukraine's former Soviet overlord, has blamed elements in Ukraine's opposition for the latest violence in Kyiv, accusing them of acting against European norms. Commenting on the situation in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it is 'spinning out of control.' He added that Russia will do everything it can to help 'stabilize the situation' without meddling in Ukrainian domestic affairs.
In Washington, the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors expressed outrage over bloody police attacks on dozens of journalists in Kyiv, including RFE/RL reporter Dmytro Barkar and cameraman Ihor Iskhakov. They were covering the protests on Monday when they were beaten and struck on the head by members of the elite Berkut police force.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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