You're reading: Government admits helplessness, asks for a new deal with Europe

Prime Minister Mykola Azarov admitted on Dec. 2 that his government was helpless to handle mass protests in the streets of Kyiv that have lasted for more than a week, and said they looked like a coup.

At
the same time, President Vitkor Yanukovych reached out to Europe for
a new deal after failing to sign an agreement last week. The
government’s failure caused outrage and mass protests across the
country.

“The
mass character of protests has grown to be unmanageable, or rather
manageable by certain political forces,” Azarov said at a meeting
with U.S. and EU ambassadors.

Hundreds
of thousands of Ukrainians have been protesting against the
government since Nov. 21, when it took a decision to reverse
preparations to sing a comprehensive agreement with Europe in favor
of closer ties in Russia.

The
protests grew stronger after police used brutal force to break up a
crowd of several hundred peaceful protesters, mostly students, in the
middle of the night on Nov. 30. Once again, excessive violence was
used during clashes on Dec. 1, when an estimated 350,000 people came
out to the streets.

Hundreds
were injured on both sides, including 36 journalists. The opposition
claimed the clashes were instigated by pro-government forces, not
peaceful protesters.

“Now
the situation has changed. On one hand, we are not taking
responsibility from the law enforcers, but on the other hand, the
politicians who joined this action have sharply radicalized the
situation,” Azarov told the ambassadors, according to
Interfax-Ukraine.

Azarov’s comments come on the eve of a no-confidence vote, which is set to
take place in parliament on Dec. 3. The likely outcome of the vote is
not clear as the opposition has no majority in parliament, while the
ruling party of regions – although in disarray – is not likely to
support a no-confidence motion against its own party leader Azarov.

In
the meantime, President
Yanukovych called President of the European Commission José Manuel
Barroso to discuss the riots that have been raging across the
country.

Barosso
told Yanukovych that “a peaceful and political solution is the only
way for Ukraine out of the current situation,” the press service of
EU Commission reported.

He
also advised Yanukovych to immediately investigate “the use of
force by the police,” respect civil rights and liberties and
“urgently engage with all relevant political forces.”

Yanukovych,
on his part, asked the European Commission to receive a delegation
from Ukraine to discuss a deal with the EU, preparations to which
were stopped by initiative of Ukraine’s government weeks ago.

Barosso
agreed, but “he underlined that the European Commission stands
ready to discuss aspects of implementation related to the agreements
already initialed, but not to re-open any kind of negotiations,”
the report said.

Azrov
said that his First Deputy Serhiy Arbuzov will travel to Brussels to
negotiate the deal. It was not immediately clear when the trip will
take place. President Yanukovych, however, is scheduled to visit Russia after his trip to China, which starts on Dec. 3.

Arbuzov,
in his earlier briefing on Dec.1 indicated that Ukrainians are
prepared to be more flexible in negotiations. While previously, the
government told EU it had no way to compensate for 160 billion euro
of estimated losses Ukraine would incur in case it signs an
association agreement, now Arbuzov said the actual figure is closer
to 10 billion euro.

EU
officials have repeatedly said that the door to EU remains open for
Ukraine.