By Li Hongmei
Facing huge anti-government demonstrations after spurning a deal with the European Union, Ukraine's embattled president sought Monday to quell public anger by moving to renew talks with Brussels.
The opposition, meanwhile, scrambled to secure enough votes in parliament to oust the Cabinet and try to force an early presidential election, in the biggest unrest in the country since the 2004 Orange Revolution.
President Viktor Yanukovych struggled to reaffirm his grip on power as thousands of demonstrators besieged government buildings in Kiev, his party suffered defections and three cities in the west of the country openly defied the central government.
The protests were sparked by Yanukovych's decision to ditch the political association and free trade pact with the EU, followed by a violent dispersal of a small peaceful rally in Kiev over the weekend.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who strongly opposed the EU deal, denounced the opposition protests in Kiev as "pogroms."
On Monday, Yanukovych called European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and asked to renew negotiations on signing the association agreement. He also said in an interview with Ukraine's main television channels that he remains committed to European integration, but would like to negotiate better terms for the fragile Ukrainian economy.
Yanukovych urged the opposition for calm and dialogue with the government.
Protests have been held daily in Kiev since Yanukovych's Cabinet announced on Nov. 21 that it was ditching the EU agreement in favor of closer ties with Russia.
Yanukovych was also reluctant to liberate his top rival, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, whose imprisonment the EU called political revenge and whose freedom it set as a condition for signing the deal.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman reaffirmed the willingness of Berlin and Brussels to sign the association agreement, saying the protests clearly showed that Ukrainians want the EU deal.
"For the German government, these demonstrations send a very clear message," he said. "It has to be hoped that ... Yanukovych will hear this message."
In a statement issued on Monday through his spokesman, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon encouraged a dialogue between all parties in Ukraine and urged them to "act with restraint, avoid any further violence and to uphold the democratic principles of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly."
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, speaking at a conference in Lima, Peru, appealed "to all parties to act with restraint" and "avoid any further violence."
In Washington, US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki also called for calm.
"We continue to stress there is no room for violence in a country that aspires to a democratic future," she said.
