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| In Ukraine, relative calm as both sides await outcome of talks | In Ukraine, relative calm as both sides await outcome of talks |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| KIEV, Ukraine — Protesters and police took a breather Thursday as relative calm reigned in the Ukrainian capital, while both sides tensely await the outcome of talks between President Viktor Yanukovych and opposition leaders. | |
| The opposition has demanded early elections, and Wednesday night it presented Yanukovych with a deadline of 8 p.m. Thursday. | |
| Vitali Klitschko, head of the UDAR opposition party, was reported to have gone in to see Yanukovych early Thursday afternoon, but it was not clear whether the other two main participants in the talks — Arseniy Yatsenyuk of the Fatherland party and Oleh Tiahnybok of the Svoboda party — would be joining them. | Vitali Klitschko, head of the UDAR opposition party, was reported to have gone in to see Yanukovych early Thursday afternoon, but it was not clear whether the other two main participants in the talks — Arseniy Yatsenyuk of the Fatherland party and Oleh Tiahnybok of the Svoboda party — would be joining them. |
| Yanukovych called for the parliament, or Verkhovna Rada, to come back into session to consider solutions to the crisis. The immediate cause of the escalation in tension was the Rada’s quick passage a week ago of legislation cracking down on free speech and assembly. The opposition has demanded that the harsh new laws be repealed. | |
| Parliament is supposed to be in recess until Feb. 4, but the speaker, Volodomyr Rybak, said it could reconvene early next week. Repeal might offer the beginning of a way out of the deadlock, but it is by no means a foregone conclusion. | |
| Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, accused protesters of trying to stage a coup d’etat and said it would be unrealistic to hold an early presidential election, according to a Reuters news agency report. | Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, accused protesters of trying to stage a coup d’etat and said it would be unrealistic to hold an early presidential election, according to a Reuters news agency report. |
| “A genuine attempt at a coup d’etat is being carried out,” the Interfax news agency quoted Azarov as saying. “All those who support this coup should say clearly, ‘Yes, we are for the overthrow of the legitimate authorities in Ukraine,’ and not hide behind peaceful protesters.” | “A genuine attempt at a coup d’etat is being carried out,” the Interfax news agency quoted Azarov as saying. “All those who support this coup should say clearly, ‘Yes, we are for the overthrow of the legitimate authorities in Ukraine,’ and not hide behind peaceful protesters.” |
| Protest organizers reported that overnight, police had roughed up and detained a dozen or more people they suspected of being part of the long-running demonstration here. One group, from an offshoot called Avtomaidan, had gone to try to intercept suspected thugs for hire near the parliament building. Instead, organizers said, they were set upon by riot police, beaten and detained. | Protest organizers reported that overnight, police had roughed up and detained a dozen or more people they suspected of being part of the long-running demonstration here. One group, from an offshoot called Avtomaidan, had gone to try to intercept suspected thugs for hire near the parliament building. Instead, organizers said, they were set upon by riot police, beaten and detained. |
| Several hundred young men apparently hired by the government ringed the U.S. Embassy here overnight, protesting what they called American interference in Ukrainian affairs. | Several hundred young men apparently hired by the government ringed the U.S. Embassy here overnight, protesting what they called American interference in Ukrainian affairs. |
| Klitschko had called for a general strike Thursday to last for an hour starting at noon. A check around the city found little evidence he had been heeded outside the environs of the Maidan, or Independence Square, where the main protest encampment has been since Nov. 21. But several hundred students from a teachers college on Taras Shevchenko Boulevard, about a mile from the Maidan, gathered in the median strip to show support for the protest and to demand an end to police violence. | |
| “Of course a peaceful solution will be a problem,” said Lyuba Ragozina, 24. “But we’re here because we support the people.” | “Of course a peaceful solution will be a problem,” said Lyuba Ragozina, 24. “But we’re here because we support the people.” |
| Farther along the boulevard, at St. Volodomyr’s Cathedral, a bell-ringer in the tower sent out a clangorous endorsement of the strike. | Farther along the boulevard, at St. Volodomyr’s Cathedral, a bell-ringer in the tower sent out a clangorous endorsement of the strike. |
| Thousands filled the Maidan itself, creating a much larger crowd than recent noontime weekdays have seen. On Wednesday evening, when a police action was feared, tens of thousands turned out. With its huge and now-reinforced barriers, the Maidan would not be an easy objective for the police to sweep clean, especially if there are 50,000 or more people on it — many of them young men willing to mix it up with the police. | |
| Mass bloodshed would seem to be out of the question. Yanukovych is deeply disliked by nearly half the country, and a full-scale assault on the Maidan would send shock waves nationwide. | |
| At the same time, it is clear that the protesters, most of them nationalists who have been fighting police near Dynamo Stadium, are not under the control of the opposition leaders. Klitschko asked for a “cease-fire” Thursday at that site, which was generally observed by both sides, but it’s unlikely to last if there is no progress toward a settlement. By midday, the burning piles of tires that protesters had ignited to create a smoke screen had been doused as the sun appeared for the first time all week, the air finally clear. |