"We certainty don't consider peaceful demonstrations coup attempts," said White House front man Jay Carney after Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said the protests bore all the hallmarks of a coup.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead..., whose government has pitted itself against the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
in a tug-of-war over Ukraine, also denounced the protests, saying they were "more like a pogrom than a revolution."
Carney described violence by Ukrainian authorities against demonstrators on Saturday as "unacceptable" but noted that police had generally been more restrained since then.
But he added: "There have been a number of disturbing reports of journalists and members of the media being targeted and assaulted by security forces."
"We urge Ukraine's leaders to respect their people's rights to the freedom of expression and assembly.
"These are fundamental to a healthy democracy and respect of universal values on which the United States partnership with Ukraine depends."