In December 2013 Ashton visited Kiev.
She said she was impressed by the "determination of Ukrainians demonstrating for the European perspective of their country" and observed "with sadness that police used force to remove peaceful people from the center of Kiev... Dialogue with political forces and society and the use of arguments is always better than the argument of force".
Subsequently, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin criticised Ashton's categorisation of the anti-government protests in Kiev as peaceful in nature, pointing to the death of a number of police officers.

At the beginning of March a recording of a conversation between Ashton and the Estonian foreign minister Urmas Paet was released.
In the call, Paet said he had been told by a woman doctor named Olga that snipers responsible for killing police and civilians in Kiev last month were protest movement provocateurs rather than supporters of then-president Viktor Yanukovych.
Ashton responds: "I didn't know … Gosh." "
So there is a stronger and stronger understanding that behind snipers it was not Yanukovych, it was somebody from the new coalition", Paet says.
Ashton replies: "I think we do want to investigate.
I didn't pick that up, that's interesting.
Gosh", she says.
The Estonian foreign ministry confirmed the accuracy of the leak but clarified that "Foreign Minister Paet was giving an overview of what he had heard in Kiev and expressed concern over the situation on the ground.
We reject the claim that Paet was giving an assessment of the opposition's involvement in the violence."
The woman doctor, Dr Olga Bogomolets, said in an interview reported by Paul Waldie of The Globe and Mail that, in her conversation with the Estonian minister, "she did not indicate that protesters used snipers.
She simply relayed to the Estonian minister what she saw that day – protesters shot in the head and heart. '
What I saw were people who were killed by snipers and only on [protesters'] side.'"

On 28 March 2014 Ashton issued a news release condemning violence by members of the Ukrainian nationalist political party Right Sector, stating, "I strongly condemn the pressure by activists of the Right Sector who have surrounded the building of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
Such an intimidation of the parliament is against ... democratic principles and [the] rule of law.
I call on the Right Sector and other parties in Ukraine to refrain from the use or threat of violence.
They need to hand over any unauthorised arms to the authorities immediately."
In December 2013 Ashton visited Kiev. She said she was impressed by the "determination of Ukrainians demonstrating for the European perspective of their country" and observed "with sadness that police used force to remove peaceful people from the center of Kiev... Dialogue with political forces and society and the use of arguments is always better than the argument of force". Subsequently, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin criticised Ashton's categorisation of the anti-government protests in Kiev as peaceful in nature, pointing to the death of a number of police officers.
At the beginning of March a recording of a conversation between Ashton and the Estonian foreign minister Urmas Paet was released. In the call, Paet said he had been told by a woman doctor named Olga that snipers responsible for killing police and civilians in Kiev last month were protest movement provocateurs rather than supporters of then-president Viktor Yanukovych. Ashton responds: "I didn't know … Gosh." "So there is a stronger and stronger understanding that behind snipers it was not Yanukovych, it was somebody from the new coalition", Paet says. Ashton replies: "I think we do want to investigate. I didn't pick that up, that's interesting. Gosh", she says. The Estonian foreign ministry confirmed the accuracy of the leak but clarified that "Foreign Minister Paet was giving an overview of what he had heard in Kiev and expressed concern over the situation on the ground. We reject the claim that Paet was giving an assessment of the opposition's involvement in the violence." The woman doctor, Dr Olga Bogomolets, said in an interview reported by Paul Waldie of The Globe and Mail that, in her conversation with the Estonian minister, "she did not indicate that protesters used snipers. She simply relayed to the Estonian minister what she saw that day – protesters shot in the head and heart. 'What I saw were people who were killed by snipers and only on [protesters'] side.'"
On 28 March 2014 Ashton issued a news release condemning violence by members of the Ukrainian nationalist political party Right Sector, stating, "I strongly condemn the pressure by activists of the Right Sector who have surrounded the building of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Such an intimidation of the parliament is against ... democratic principles and [the] rule of law. I call on the Right Sector and other parties in Ukraine to refrain from the use or threat of violence. They need to hand over any unauthorised arms to the authorities immediately."
Catherine Ashton