Oekraïense politie ontruimt plein tijdens bezoek Ashton (en)

BRUSSELS - Riot police have attacked pro-EU protesters in Ukraine half-way through a visit by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton i.

The crackdown on the Maidan square in central Kiev began at 1am local time on Wednesday (11 December) morning.

The clashes went on through the night, amid reports of injuries on both sides.

The confrontation calmed down at about 7am.

But thousands of protesters and hundreds of policemen remain in the square and in nearby streets. Police reinforcements continue to arrive and opposition leaders are calling for more people to join them.

Pro-EU crowds set up camp in the Maidan on 21 November, when Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych said No to an EU association treaty.

But the order to dismantle the barricades came in the middle of a rare visit to Ukraine by Ashton.

The EU's top diplomat met with Yanukovych for three and a half hours on Tuesday.

She also visited the Maidan at 8pm on Tuesday night.

"Some hours later I observe with sadness that police use force to remove peaceful people from the centre of Kiev. The authorities didn't need to act under the coverage of night to engage with the society by using police," she said in a statement on her Facebook page while still in Ukraine.

US secretary of state John Kerry voiced "disgust" that "Ukrainian authorities [decided] to meet the peaceful protest in Kiev's Maidan Square with riot police, bulldozers, and batons."

Opposition leader Arseny Yatsenyuk, who had escorted Ashton on her Maidan visit, added: "He [Yanukovych] is spitting in the faces of the United States, 28 countries of Europe, 46 million Ukrainians. We will not forgive him this. Tomorrow there will be a million people here and his regime will fall."

The crackdown also came on the eve of a visit by Ukraine's deputy PM, Serhiy Arbuzov, to Brussels.

Arbuzov is bringing what Ukraine calls an EU "Marshal Plan" for Ukraine - a set of demands for billions of euros in extra funds to sign and implement the EU treaty.

Earlier on Tuesday, Yanukovych said on TV he is ready to sign the treaty at an EU-Ukraine summit in March.

He also defended previous police beatings, saying: "When they started to attack the riot police, they got their response."

EU diplomats have lost faith that he intends to sign the text despite the ongoing talks, however.

Contacts say Yanukovych is trying to play Brussels against Moscow, by asking each side for more money in order retain power in 2015 elections.

"He doesn't have the slightest intention of signing the treaty before the elections," one EU source said.

"The Arbuzov visit is just a smokescreen," he added.

"Yanukovych will send the whole Ukrainian disneyland to Brussels to create the impression that he is ready to sign the association agreement. And the EU will probably play along because it doesn't have any plan B," he noted.