Thousands of pro government supporters rally in Ukraines capital

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Tens of thousands of Ukrainians rallied in support of President Viktor Yanukovich in central Kiev on Saturday, separated by a line of riot police from anti-government protesters who have camped out for weeks in a nearby square.

Less than a day after talks between the government and the opposition failed to resolve the political crisis, Yanukovich's supporters waved the blue flags of his Party of Regions and chanted the president's name, while many others were arriving in Kiev for a mass opposition protest planned on Sunday.

"We are here to support the president and order," 18-year-old Maria Nikolayeva said. "Yanukovich is our best prospect at the moment."

Rival demonstrators have been camping since Nov. 21 in Independence Square - now known as the "Maidan", meaning "Square", or the "Euro-maidan" - in protest against Yanukovich's last minute refusal to sign an agreement bringing Ukraine closer to the European Union, in favour of Russia.

The protest has since grown in strength and turned into an all-out movement against the president and his administration.

Buses that brought many of the pro-government protesters to Kiev in the early hours from Donetsk and other cities in eastern Ukraine - the traditional stronghold of the Party of Regions - were parked in streets around the rallying point in European Square.

"Any conflicts, the most difficult matters should and can only be solved by the negotiating table. People should not be driven away from their work, from their families," Prime Minister Mykola Azarov told supporters.

"Let's tell the people to go back home to their families and their business," he said.

REUTERS

Thousands of pro-government supporters rally in Ukraine's capital