Ukrainian riot police withdrew from a protest camp in Kiev after moving against demonstrators overnight in the authorities' biggest attempt yet to reclaim streets after weeks of protests.
Several columns of police left positions around the protesters' main camp in Independence Square and moved away from government buildings occupied by demonstrators.
Protesters are angry at President Viktor Yanukovich's decision to abandon a European Union trade deal and move Ukraine further into Russia's orbit.
Overnight police cleared streets near the protest camp and later surrounded the City Hall, where demonstrators who have set up a makeshift hospital in the occupied building sprayed them with water hoses to prevent it from being stormed.
Those moves by hundreds of police were the boldest steps the authorities had ordered so far against demonstrators, although it was not clear whether they were prepared to use full force.
At the main protest camp on Independence Square, pop stars, politicians and priests pleaded with police not to shed blood.
Opposition politicians called for mass demonstrations to protect the square and predicted that Mr Yanukovich would soon be toppled.
The interior minister called for calm and said the square would not be stormed.
Dozens of demonstrators and police were hurt in scuffles but several officers said they had orders not to use force.
But the action appeared to stall as day broke, with temperatures in the snowbound capital stuck at minus 8 Celsius.
Some riot police left to cheers from lines of protesters holding them back.
"It is the stupidest thing that he could have done," said Vitaly Klitschko, a world heavyweight boxing champion turned opposition politician.
"There are laws of physics: the more pressure, the more resistance. I am sure there will be a huge number of Ukrainians here in a few hours."
Another opposition leader, former economy minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said: "He (Yanukovich) 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 crisis has added to the financial hardship of a country on the brink of bankruptcy.
The cost of insuring Ukraine's debt against default rose another 30 basis points today, close to a four-year high set during yesterday's trading session.
European leaders say the trade pact with Ukraine would have brought investment. But the country's Soviet-era industry relies on Russian natural gas, giving Moscow enormous leverage.
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said he had told European leaders they would need to provide Kiev with €20bn in aid for Ukraine to sign the stalled pact with Brussels.
He promised that a meeting with Russian officials set for 17 December would not include talks on joining a Moscow-dominated customs union, a main fear of the opposition.
Western countries spoke out strongly against use of force.
"The United States expresses its disgust with the decision of Ukrainian authorities to meet the peaceful protest in Kiev's Maidan Square with riot police, bulldozers, and batons, rather than with respect for democratic rights and human dignity," US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement.
"This response is neither acceptable nor does it befit a democracy."
With EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland in Kiev, protest speakers urged the West to support them in a struggle which has developed into a campaign to force Mr Yanukovich's resignation.
Ms Nuland visited protesters on the square this morning.
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