But President Viktor Yanukovych showed little willingness to negotiate, promoting his hawkish top aide to his chief-of-staff.
The seizures could complicate talks between opposition leaders and Yanukovych, who has demanded the demonstrators leave other administrative buildings in Kiev that they have occupied for nearly two months. The opposition wants Yanukovych to resign in favor of a new election.
Yanukovych appeared in no mood for compromise, promoting Andriy Kluyev, whom the opposition holds responsible for violence against protesters, to be his chief-of-staff.
Some opposition leaders had expressed hope for negotiations after meeting with Yanukovych for several hours late on Thursday, telling the crowd that he had promised to stop detaining protesters and to release dozens of them already in custody. They urged the protesters to maintain a shaky truce that has followed violent street battles in Kiev so as to avoid further bloodshed.
But the opposition leaders were booed by some demonstrators eager to resume clashes with police.
The truce largely held Friday, but early in the day protesters broke into the downtown Ministry of Agricultural Policy, meeting no resistance. The demonstrators let ministry workers take their possessions but wouldn’t let them work.
‘We need to keep people warm in the frost,’ explained protester Andriy Moiseenko, referring to temperatures that dip to -20 degree Celsius overnight. ‘We cannot have people sleeping in tents all the time.’
The protests began two months ago after Yanukovych abruptly ditched an association agreement with the European Union in favor of a bailout loan from Russia. The protests have been largely peaceful, but they turned violent Sunday after Yanukovych pushed through harsh anti-protest laws.
At the barricades Friday outside a government district in Kiev - where fires had raged and rocks had flown for days - dozens of middle-aged women approached police lines chanting, ‘you are our children!’ and ‘No more mothers’ tears!’
One of them, 48-year-old Oksana Tikhomirova, wept as she urged riot police to stop the violence.
‘All of these are our children. Both... the protesters and the riot police are sons of Ukraine,’ she said. ‘I have seen people killed and maimed and we must stop that. The violence must stop.’
The seizures could complicate talks between opposition leaders and Yanukovych, who has demanded the demonstrators leave other administrative buildings in Kiev that they have occupied for nearly two months. The opposition wants Yanukovych to resign in favor of a new election.
Yanukovych appeared in no mood for compromise, promoting Andriy Kluyev, whom the opposition holds responsible for violence against protesters, to be his chief-of-staff.
Some opposition leaders had expressed hope for negotiations after meeting with Yanukovych for several hours late on Thursday, telling the crowd that he had promised to stop detaining protesters and to release dozens of them already in custody. They urged the protesters to maintain a shaky truce that has followed violent street battles in Kiev so as to avoid further bloodshed.
But the opposition leaders were booed by some demonstrators eager to resume clashes with police.
The truce largely held Friday, but early in the day protesters broke into the downtown Ministry of Agricultural Policy, meeting no resistance. The demonstrators let ministry workers take their possessions but wouldn’t let them work.
‘We need to keep people warm in the frost,’ explained protester Andriy Moiseenko, referring to temperatures that dip to -20 degree Celsius overnight. ‘We cannot have people sleeping in tents all the time.’
The protests began two months ago after Yanukovych abruptly ditched an association agreement with the European Union in favor of a bailout loan from Russia. The protests have been largely peaceful, but they turned violent Sunday after Yanukovych pushed through harsh anti-protest laws.
At the barricades Friday outside a government district in Kiev - where fires had raged and rocks had flown for days - dozens of middle-aged women approached police lines chanting, ‘you are our children!’ and ‘No more mothers’ tears!’
One of them, 48-year-old Oksana Tikhomirova, wept as she urged riot police to stop the violence.
‘All of these are our children. Both... the protesters and the riot police are sons of Ukraine,’ she said. ‘I have seen people killed and maimed and we must stop that. The violence must stop.’