US considering sanctions on Ukraine

The US State Department has said it is considering sanctions against Ukraine if security forces intensify a crackdown on anti-government protesters in the country.

“All policy options, including sanctions, are on the table, in our view, but obviously that still is being evaluated,” department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Wednesday.

Congress may consider legislation to deny visas to Ukrainian officials or to freeze their American assets, according to US lawmakers.

White House deputy spokesman Josh Earnest also criticized “the Ukrainian government’s response to peaceful protests over the last two weeks,” saying it “has been completely unacceptable… The right to peaceful protest and assembly must be respected.”

Pentagon spokesman Carl Woog said Wednesday that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned his Ukrainian counterpart of the “potential damage of any involvement by the military in breaking up the demonstrations.”

Ukrainian Defense Minister Pavlo Lebedyev has said he would not use the army against the protesters, according to US officials.

In the early hours of Wednesday, Ukrainian police moved in on the main protest camp in Independence Square in Kiev and dismantled some barriers and tents saying they were trying to free up a passage through the square for traffic. Police eventually clashed with the protesters and detained several of them.

The demonstrations in the center of the capital have paralyzed the country since the government last month rejected a European Union trade pact and steer Ukraine closer to Russia.

Ukainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said Kiev wanted $28 billion in aid from the EU in return for signing the agreement.

President Viktor Yanukovych has invited all parties, including the opposition, for talks to find a resolution to the crisis. But the opposition rejected the call after the police crackdown. “Instead of a round table, what we got is a break-up [with] truncheons,” said opposition leader Oleksandr Turchynov. “The authorities are driving into a dead end.”