European leaders raised the pressure on Ukraine’s president Viktor Yanukovych by calling for sanctions after a night of violence that left at least 25 people dead.
French President François Hollande and Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, called for “rapid and targeted European sanctions against those leaders responsible for these acts”, according to a statement from the Elysée Palace.
José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president who secured a promise from Yanukovych last month that there would be no crackdown on protesters, issued his strongest condemnation to date on Wednesday morning, saying the EU would begin the process of sanctioning those behind the violence.
“There are no circumstances that can legitimise or justify such scenes,” Mr Barroso said.
