Ukrainian president reaffirms promise to Russia as protests continue

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, speaking on television after more than two weeks of street unrest over his turn from the European Union towards Russia, said on Tuesday there was no alternative to restoring trade relations with Moscow.

While asserting that Ukraine still wanted integration with the E.U., he said, "We cannot talk about the future without talking about restoring trade relations with Russia."

Yanukovich, seated with three former presidents of Ukraine as he spoke, said it was time to turn a "shameful page" in Ukraine's history — a reference to the unrest in which hundreds of thousands of people have demonstrated in central Kiev and police have been criticized for a crackdown on protesters.

But he made no sign of changing his policy nor gave any indication he would give in to opposition demands for the dismissal of his government or call early elections.

Nor did Yanukovich give any details of last Friday's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin which has fuelled opposition suspicions that he may be readying to take Ukraine into a Moscow-led customs union in return for dumping a trade pact with the European Union.

Referring to the unrest in which the police have been criticised for heavy-handedness, Yanukovich said: "There have been violations on Independence Square — these must be assessed and the guilty must be held responsible on both sides."

Meanwhile, top Western diplomats were headed to Kiev on Tuesday to try to diffuse the standoff.

Yanukovich's decision came after police in riot gear dismantled protesters' encampments outside government buildings.

The atmosphere in another opposition tent camp, in a central square known as the Maidan, appeared calm. 

"We are standing on the Maidan so that Yanukovych will be afraid and know that there is another Ukraine, a European one, which doesn't want to go to Russia," said protester Anton Ostriysko, 35, who was warming himself at a fire after a night shift at the camp.

Music blasted from a giant stage at the camp, as activists lined up to receive food from field kitchens. Black-robed Orthodox priests talked to activists to boost morale, careful not to slip on a thick crust of ice and snow that blanketed the Ukrainian capital.

Al Jazeera and wire services