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More than
100,000 people in the Ukrainian capital Kiev are protesting against the
government's move to delay an association deal with the EU under pressure from
Russia.
Opposition
leaders joined the protest, said to be the largest since the Orange Revolution
in 2004.
Police
reportedly fired tear gas as protesters tried to break through a cordon around
government buildings.
A
pro-government rally a few miles away attracted about 10,000 people.
Ukraine
made the decision on the EU deal last week, saying it could not afford to break
ties with Moscow. Russia is trying to bring Kiev into its own customs union.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin accused the EU of blackmailing Ukraine to sign the
deal during a summit in Vilnius next week.
People
arrived at the rally, on European Square, with families and children, many
holding banners with slogans like "I want to live in Europe" or
"Ukraine is part of Europe".
"We
want to be together with Europe," Volodymyr Mnikh, a 62-year-old retired
chemist, told the Associated Press news agency.
"We
want our children to have a future and not to be pressured by Russia."
Several
rallies in Kiev and other cities have been held over the last few days, but
Sunday's has been the largest so far.
World
heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, who leads the Udar movement and
attended Friday's rally, was not present.
Ukrainian
news agency Unian said he had been flying back from the US after celebrating
his daughter's birthday but his plane was not allowed to land in Kiev because
of weather conditions.
Gas
disputes
On Friday,
Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said the decision not to sign the deal
was motivated solely by economics and was "tactical". He said it did
not alter Ukraine's overall development strategy.
The
Ukrainian government says it is now looking into setting up a joint commission
to promote ties between Ukraine, Russia and the EU.
Ukraine
depends on imports of Russian gas, but recently the supplier, Gazprom,
complained that Ukraine had fallen behind in payments. Pipelines transiting
Ukraine pump Russian gas to many EU member states.
In 2009
Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine in a dispute about prices, causing fuel
shortages across Europe in the middle of winter.
Russia has
a customs union with two other former Soviet republics - Belarus and Kazakhstan
- and has been urging Ukraine to join it.
A free
trade agreement with the EU would mean Ukraine adopting different trade rules.
Kiev's
decision on Thursday prompted EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele to
cancel a trip to Ukraine.
It had been
planned for the run-up to the key "Eastern Partnership" summit
between the EU and several ex-Soviet states, which will be held in Vilnius,
Lithuania, on 28 and 29 November.
Radio Free Europe, 24 November 2013
Antigovernment protesters clashed with police in the Ukrainian capital on November 24 when a small number of people tried to break through a police line near the government building. (Video by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service)
Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov
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Radio Free Europe, 24 November 2013
Antigovernment protesters clashed with police in the Ukrainian capital on November 24 when a small number of people tried to break through a police line near the government building. (Video by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service)
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