[I]t’s past time for the leadership in Ukraine to listen to the voices of its people, and to restore a path to European integration and economic health. The right to peaceful protest must be respected. Violence, or the threat of violence, is impermissible in a democratic state. Those responsible for the violence on November 30 must be brought to justice, and detainees must be released. Six days have gone by with no accountability. Again, the voices of the Ukrainian people must be heard. They are calling for a European future: that’s a free and democratic future; judicial accountability; human dignity and the restoration of Ukraine’s economic health.

Remarks by Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland; Tbilisi, Georgia, December 6, 2013.

Image: Euromaidan in Kyiv (photo: Nessa Gnatoush)