Ukraine leader slams 'revolution' calls in crisis talks

Kiev (AFP) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Tuesday slammed opposition calls for revolution as a "threat to national security" as he met his predecessors in a bid to defuse an escalating standoff over a rejected EU pact.

Several demonstrators were injured in fresh clashes with police early Tuesday as EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and a top US diplomat arrived in Kiev for talks in a sign of the global concern about the explosive situation.

Convening ex-leaders Leonid Kuchma, Leonid Kravchuk and Viktor Yushchenko at an unprecedented meeting at the presidential administration, Yanukovych also said a delegation would likely be flying to Brussels to renew negotiations on key political and free trade agreements on Wednesday.

"Calls for a revolution pose a threat to national security," Yanukovych said in comments broadcast on national television. "I want that this dark page is turned and is never allowed to happen again."

Yanukovych's decision to scrap key trade and political agreements with the EU under pressure from Russia and police violence against protesters have plunged the ex-Soviet country into its most acute political crisis since the pro-democracy Orange Revolution in 2004.

Calls for PM to step down

Protests have gone into a third week, with both the authorities and the opposition showing few signs of compromise.

Yanukovych incensed the opposition further by meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin for secret talks on Friday.

The former Ukranian presidents have suggested holding round-table talks between the authorities and the opposition to calm ever-increasing tensions.

Opposition leaders said they would not negotiate with Yanukovych until he sacked the government of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, released arrested demonstrators and punished riot police accused of crushing a protest on November 30.

Kuchma and Kravchuk pointedly noted during the meeting that prime ministers had stepped down before, and indicated that Azarov could do the same.

"Civil society is now awaiting a signal from the president," said Kuchma, Ukraine's president between 1994 and 2004. Yanukovych made no public comments on the fate of the government.

In an apparent bid to placate the demonstrators, Yanukovych said that he had asked the general prosecutor to secure the release of some of the demonstrators arrested after clashes with police.

Yanukovych, without giving further details, said he would work for the release of those who had not committed serious violence. He also implied the security forces bore some responsibility for clashes.

"There are guilty on both sides," he said. "I am not a supporter of reacting harshly and having people judged."

Fresh clashes with police

At least 10 protesters were reported injured in fresh clashes with baton-wielding police in the early hours of Tuesday as security forces pushed them back and removed barricades from around the government headquarters in the capital Kiev.

"More than 10 people are injured," a lawmaker from nationalist Svoboda (Freedom) party, Yuriy Syrotyuk, told AFP. He said one suffered punctured lungs and several had broken arms or legs.

Police said two officers were injured in a crush as the authorities sought on Monday evening to reclaim control of the city centre and remove barricades around the seat of government and the presidential administration.

On her visit, Ashton was to meet Yanukovych and three opposition leaders as well as representatives of civil society for talks aimed at supporting a political solution.

The three opposition leaders -- Yatsenyuk, former world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko and the nationalist Svoboda party chief Oleg Tyagnybok -- also met visiting US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland on Tuesday.

Nuland was also due to meet Yanukovych later Tuesday.

US Vice President Joe Biden on Monday in a telephone call conveyed Washington's "deep concern" to Yanukovych, a White House statement said.

The party of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko said Monday armed law enforcement officers had raided its headquarters, taking away documents and computer servers.

The protesters remained defiant, with several hundred braving falling snow and temperatures of around -7 degrees centigrade (19 degrees Fahrenheit) to spend another night on Kiev's Independence Square.

On Sunday, hundreds of thousands filled Independence Square, and dozens of masked protesters tore down a statue of Lenin.

Ukraine's Security Service opened an investigation into an alleged attempt to seize power, in an apparent bid by the state to target key opposition figures.