The first meeting between Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Ukrainian pro-EU protesters that took place on Wednesday does not seem to have accomplished much. After the dialogue, opposition leaders announced the President's unwillingness to consider protester's demands and denounced the first fatalities since protests first erupted two months ago. After ensuring President Barroso that he will not declare a state of emergency in this country, the Ukrainian Head of State called an emergency parliamentary meeting next week to discuss the present crisis, and asked protesters to hold their fire until dialogues are over.

The Ukrainian protests first emerged as a result of Mr Yanukovych´s refusal to accept conditions that involved strengthening the country's ties to Russia and bringing the country closer to admittance into the European Union. In a slow but steady manner, Mr Yanukovych has gone from being a popularly elected leader in 2010 to an oppressive ruler in what could soon become a police state. This has expanded the opposition's rage over the last couple of months to the current government officials as a whole. Despite having called for peaceful resolutions between both sides of the conflict, the President has kept police on the attack against protesters and enacted various laws that condemn public demonstrations and convey sanctions of up to ten years of imprisonment for protesters.

With suspicions that the enactment of these laws is meant to ensure that Mr. Yanukovych remains in power after elections, former opposition leader Vitali Klitschko has publicly urged the President to call snap elections. Indeed one cannot ignore the threats of renewed offensive attacks against the Ukrainian armed police forces. He has gained public recognition and ignited the opposition with his promises to face government bullets if the President keeps refusing to accept their demands.

While in December protests were relatively peaceful, violent attacks between sides became a matter of international concern when they erupted over the weekend due to a government's resistance to reach a compromise. The first civilian casualties were reported on Wednesday, with two men succumbing to gun shots and a third one falling from a local stadium during a police-opposition confrontation that took place on Wednesday night.

With opposing parties each blaming each other for the bloodshed, there is not much information available regarding the men that were shot. President Viktor Yanukovych claims that the Ukrainian police are only armed with teargas rubber bullets, and blames the fatalities on protesters attracting terrorists into the country. However, there exists evidence that the two men were shot with live ammunition, and several members of the opposition have been reported missing.

Currently bearing resemblance to a battle zone, Kiev has been the main arena of this political unrest. With protesters constantly lighting up tall piles of tires on fire and members of opposing sides throwing rubber bullets and Molotov bombs at each other, the city's streets have been recently characterized by flames and tall clouds of black smoke. With reports of beatings by the police and given the overall unsafe conditions present in the city, stores and local businesses have been closing their doors at 4:00PM.

The international world has received the news of the increase in violence with outspoken disapproval. European Union Member States and the United States have expressed their discontent with the way the Ukrainian government has been handling the protests, and Heads of State from these countries have urged the Ukrainian government to establish a space which enables both parties to engage in peaceful and meaningful dialogue. If both parties claim to disapprove the use of violence and are willing to come to a peaceful agreement, then it is time that they communicate effectively in order to prevent an escalation of violence and more fatalities in the country.

Furthermore, the increased violence and the way in which the situation is being handled has caused the European Union to warn the country of the possibility of a deterioration in their relationship if both parties fail to come to a peaceful agreement soon. This leads to increasing possibilities of Ukraine facing sanctions. All this has negative impacts on Ukraine's possibilities of becoming an EU member State. The United States has also explicitly communicated their discontent through sanctions that consisted of rebuttals of some Ukrainian officers' visas on Wednesday.