KIEV, Ukraine — Pro-government demonstrators deployed a new tactic on Friday to counter protests in favor of European integration, marching through the capital, Kiev, to oppose homosexuality, which they said would accompany a greater European Union role in Ukrainian affairs.
Carrying religious icons and singing hymns, the group of about a thousand Orthodox Christian supporters of President Viktor F. Yanukovich filed out of a monastery and marched to a city park.
Marchers said they favored allegiance to Russia rather than Europe because Russia more closely matches the cultural and religious heritage of Ukraine, once part of the Soviet Union. They intend to draw attention to what they characterize as overly liberal European social values, they said.
The protesters set off from the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, a monastery controlled by the Moscow Patriarchate, which is subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church and is one of three denominations of Eastern Orthodoxy in Ukraine. The Kyivan Patriarchate of Ukraine, in contrast, has supported the pro-Europe demonstrators and has allowed many to sleep in churches.
“We are for unity with our brothers in Russia and Belarus,” said Nadezhda A. Kiselyova, 60, a retiree walking in the anti-Europe march on Friday, who had an Orthodox icon pinned to the front of her coat.
“We are against the spiritual expansion of the West,” said another protester, Andrei A. Shyropov, a teacher. “We are against the Euro Sodom,” he continued, using a phrase rhyming with and mocking the name the supporters of European integration have given to their movement, the Euromaidan, which means “Eurosquare” in Ukrainian.
Since Mr. Yanukovich declined to sign far-reaching political and free-trade agreements with the European Union on Nov. 21, angry Ukrainians have taken to the streets and occupied government buildings, clamoring for the president’s resignation.
It was unclear whether highlighting the divisive issue of homosexuality would gain traction or whether the effort to paint Europe as atheist and degenerate would matter much in a crisis that has been first and foremost about trade and political governance.
Also, the number of pro-government demonstrators was tiny compared with the tens of thousands of pro-Europe Ukrainians who have protested almost daily for two weeks.
Valentin B. Lukyanik, an organizer of the march on Friday, said the economic benefits of European trade were outweighed by “the expansion of European values that destroy the family.”
In neighboring Russia, state-controlled television, which can also be viewed in parts of Ukraine, has already put the spotlight on European liberalism in the context of the Ukraine crisis by broadcasting clips of a Swedish television show intended to explain bodily functions to children.
After showing excerpts, the Russian host, Dmitri Kiselev, said the show explained why “early sex is the norm” in Sweden, and then concluded, “There you have European values in all their glory.”
A few blocks away from the march on Friday, a group of the pro-Europe demonstrators sallied out from the central square that has become their base to picket the office of the prosecutor general. Their aim was to draw attention to the arrests of nine protesters after a clash with the police over the weekend.
A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office, Marharyta Volkova, pointed out in a telephone interview that investigators had also opened three criminal cases into police abuse, including two investigations into the beatings of journalists by the police at rallies last weekend.
The imprisoned former prime minister, Yulia V. Tymoshenko, ended a 12-day hunger strike on Friday, according to her spokeswoman. Ms. Tymoshenko’s daughter, Evgenia, conveyed the news after a meeting in prison. Ms. Tymoshenko, who has been imprisoned for two years, ended her hunger strike because protesters had implored her to do so, saying they needed her healthy to aid their cause., the spokeswoman said. She was a leader of the 2004-5 uprising known as the Orange Revolution.
Opposition leaders on Friday proposed that European officials help negotiate an end to the protests by mediating negotiations with the government.
Yuri V. Lutsenko, a former minister of interior and an organizer of the demonstrations, said at a news conference that opposition leaders, together with several Ukrainian cultural figures, would send a letter requesting mediation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Parliament and European ambassadors in Kiev.
The first vice prime minister of Ukraine, Sergei Arbuzov, backpedaled on a previous statement suggesting that the government would be willing to discuss holding early parliamentary elections as a resolution to the crisis.
Mr. Arbuzov told a television station on Thursday evening that his words had been “turned around” to suggest that he supported an early vote when the government in fact had no intention of changing the scheduled elections. “I don’t see any sense in it,” he said.
He spoke as a senior American official, Victoria Nuland, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, on Thursday urged all sides in the Ukrainian crisis to work together to find a solution that would “meet the aspirations of its people,” but to do so through peaceful and lawful means.
Ms. Nuland’s strong message has forced the protest leaders to confront the likelihood that they will be unable to oust Mr. Yanukovich, as they lack the legal means to compel the government to hold new elections or to begin impeachment procedures.
Mr. Yanukovich met with the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, in Sochi, Russia, later Friday. The two discussed a planned agreement on a strategic partnership that would resolve “contradictions in our trade and economic systems,” Ukraine’s prime minister, Mykola Azarov, told Russian state television, providing few details.
Oksana Lyachynska contributed reporting.
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Le président ukrainien, .



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Manifestation devant le ministère de l'intérieur ukrainien, le 4 décembre.



Lors d'un sommet de l' jeudi dernier, les principaux responsables occidentaux, américains et européens,  ont apporté leur soutien aux manifestations en cours. La secrétaire d'État adjointe américaine, , a ainsi déclaré devant les responsables des états présents dont le chef de la diplomatie russe, , . La diplomatie allemande a dénoncé les pressions économique russes vis-à-vis de l'Ukraine : .

Le président ukrainien qui était en  depuis le début de la semaine est allé à  () vendredi où il a discuté avec  de la mise en place d'un  entre les deux pays.  a cependant démenti en affirmant qu' en précisant toutefois qu'une nouvelle rencontre entre les présidents des deux pays est prévue le 17 décembre.

L'ancienne première ministre actuellement détenue prisonnière, , a annoncé sa décision d'arrêter sa grève de la faim jeudi dernier tout en dénonçant le comportement du président ukrainien qu'elle compare avec . 



Apparition de manifestations contre les valeurs européennes
Vendredi de nouvelles manifestations inédites se sont déroulées à . Ces manifestations sont organisées par les opposants à un rapprochement avec l'. Les principaux arguments avancés sont d'ordre sociétaux. En effet, selon les opposants, un rapprochement avec l'UE entraînerait de facto l'augmentation de l' et de la  dont le présentateur de la télévision d'État russe reçue en Ukraine a entrepris la démonstration en s'appuyant sur les chiffres suédois. Ils avancent également une autre raison pour refuser un rapprochement avec l'UE, celle de la religion. Les manifestants peignent une UE athée menaçant la foi des Ukrainiens majoritairement orthodoxes.

Ces manifestations restent toutefois à nuancer, le '''' soulignant la faiblesse du nombre de manifestants par rapport aux différentes manifestations en faveur d'un rapprochement qui se déroulent depuis 2 semaines. De plus le journal souligne que les manifestants favorables au rapprochement s'appuient sur une conception commerciale et économique de l'accord d'association tandis que les opposants mettent en exergue des aspects sociétaux et culturels.  

Une situation économique sérieusement dégradée
L'illustration majeure de la dégradation de la santé financière du pays est l'augmentation impressionnante du taux d'intérêt des titres de dette publique à plus de 10 % cette semaine. Les analystes de Natixis estiment la probabilité d'un défaut à plus de 50 % tout en déclarant que .

La question d'un partenariat économique est au centre des attentions. En effet l'Ukraine doit trouver plus de 12 milliards d'euros pour l'an prochain afin d'honorer ses dettes et factures de gaz. Or, lors d'un précédent partenariat avec la Russie, l'Ukraine avait obtenu une baisse de 50 % de ses coûts d'achat de gaz. Cependant la mise en place d'un partenariat avec la Russie pourrait renforcer les manifestations en faveur d'un rapprochement avec l'UE. Les derniers chiffres donnent plus de  manifestants dimanche dernier, les organisateurs ont appelé à une plus grande manifestation demain. 



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