REPORT: Thirty nine killed in Kiev clashes on Thursday

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The death toll since Tuesday in fighting in Kiev between Ukrainian protesters and riot police has risen to 67, the Ukrainian capital's health department said on Thursday, indicating that 39 were killed since 6 a.m. alone.

That meant Thursday was the deadliest day yet in the months-long civil conflict in the former Soviet republic.

Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers agreed to impose sanctions on Ukraine, including visa bans, asset freezes and restrictions on the export of anti-riot equipment, ministers and officials said.

The restrictions, to be drafted into law in the coming days, will apply to those involved with ordering or orchestrating the violence in Kiev that has left nearly 60 people dead.

"The EU decides as a matter of urgency on asset freeze and visa ban on those responsible for violence and excessive force in Kiev," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said in a tweet.

European Union foreign ministers who met Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich on Thursday also found a willingness to call early elections to resolve the violent stand-off with the opposition, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told a news conference.

"The three ministers are in Kiev discussing a certain document, which gives a chance to bring an end to violence and achieve an agreement. A willingness for early elections, already this year, parliamentary as well as presidential, was agreed," Tusk said, describing the meeting with Yanukovich.

This comes as the country's interior ministry said Ukrainian anti-government protesters are holding 67 policemen hostage in the capital.

The ministry also said "Berkut" riot policemen had been armed with combat weapons, an attempt to regain control of violent protests in which scores of people have died since Tuesday.

"To free the hostages police have the right to use their weapons," the ministry said in a statement posted to its website.

A further three policemen were unaccounted for, it said.

Fresh fighting broke out in central Kiev on Thursday, shattering a truce declared by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, as the Russian-backed leader met European ministers demanding he compromise with pro-EU opponents.

A Reuters photographer saw the bodies of 21 dead civilians in Independence Square, a few hundred metres (yards) from where the president met the EU delegation, after protesters who have occupied the area for almost three months hurled petrol bombs and paving stones to drive riot police out of the plaza.

A Ukrainian presidential statement said dozens of police were killed or wounded during the opposition offensive hours after Yanukovich and opposition leaders had agreed on a truce. Witnesses said they saw snipers firing during the clashes. The Health Ministry said two police were among Thursday's dead.

Putin sending mediator to Ukraine:

Russian President Vladimir Putin will send an envoy to Ukraine, at the request of President Viktor Yanukovich, to try to mediate talks between the government and opposition, Russian news agencies quoted Putin's spokesman as saying on Thursday.

"Putin decided to send (Russian) human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin on this mission," state-run RIA quoted the spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, as saying after a telephone conversation between Putin and Yanukovich.

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The White House urged Ukraine's president to immediately withdraw security forces from downtown Kiev and respect the right of peaceful protest after a truce fell apart and the death toll mounted.

"We are outraged by images of Ukrainian security forces firing automatic weapons on their own people," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.

Also on Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich in a phone call to accept an offer from the European Union, Germany and other partners to support talks between the Kiev government and opposition.

"Playing for time will fuel the conflict further and contains unforeseeable risks," said a statement from Merkel's spokesman, adding that the chancellor urged all sides to cease the use of violence immediately and enforce the agreed truce.

This as, Britain summoned Ukraine's ambassador to London after violent clashes in Kiev killed at least 21 civilians.

"We are calling in the ambassador and calling on him to stop the violence," said a foreign ministry spokeswoman.

As well, Russia sharply criticized Western sanctions against Ukrainian officials on Thursday, after the United States imposed visa bans and the European Union considered similar measures.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said that threats of sanctions were "inappropriate" and would only aggravate the confrontation between the Ukrainian government and its opponents. Separately, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov likened threats of sanctions to blackmail, RIA news agency reported.