and the process began in november when the government turned down a deal with the europeaeuropean union, and it hn a violent turn. we have the ambassador to the ukraine, john hurst. and research associate from the ukrainian studies. and from the ukraine, the executive director of the national minorities of the ukraine. ambassador, let me start with you. you heard our reporter in the square mention that over time, the demonstrators have upped their demands, and they have seen the possibility for getting a greater prize. did yanukovych miss an opportunity. and does he continue to miss them? >> i'm not sure that the protesters have upped their demands. in the very first days of late november, people in the square were calling for the president yanukovych to step down, and they are doing it again now. i'm not sure that those demands are realistic. i think that there are many steps that mr. yanukovych has to take to try to quell the arrests. but it's unlikely that he will step down there power. what we have seen over the past two months is a regularly handheld effort by mr. yanukovych to per