MOSCOW/KIEV Russia told European governments on Tuesday to stop meddling in Ukraine's political crisis and said events could be spinning out of control in Kiev after violence that left vehicles burning in the streets. 
 
 Moscow, which sees its fellow former Soviet republic as part of its traditional sphere of influence, has watched nervously as protests against President Viktor Yanukovich's decision to shun a trade pact with the European Union have turned violent. 
 
 Scores of police and demonstrators have been hurt since Yanukovich, who received a multi-billion-dollar bailout package from Moscow after he spurned the EU deal, angered opponents by signing sweeping laws to curb public protests. 
 
 Criticizing "members of certain European governments" for visiting the protesters in Kiev, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: "We would prefer that some of our European colleagues refrained from acting unceremoniously over the Ukrainian crisis. 
 
 "It is just distasteful," he said, adding that such action had helped encourage the protests. 
 
 In December, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Guido Westerwelle, at the time Germany's foreign minister, visited the protesters. 
 
 EU ministers have also denounced the new laws curbing public protests as "anti-democratic". 
 
 Lavrov criticized the protesters for using "violence, attacks on police, arson, Molotov cocktails and explosive devices" and he called their behavior a "complete violation of all European standards of behavior". 
 
 Russian state television has been repeatedly showing footage of the clashes and what appears to be protesters smashing the windows of a bus, underlining the case for the tough legislation and police action to curb violence. 
 
 "OUT OF CONTROL" 
 
 "I personally think that these calls for prudence, which the leaders of the opposition and Vitaly Klitschko in particular are now making, show that the situation is spinning out of control," Lavrov said. 
 
 Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said in an interview with Russian state broadcaster Russia 24 the government would use force if clashes in Kiev do not cease. 
 
 "If the provocateurs do not stop, then the authorities will have no other choice but to use force under the law to protect our people," said Azarov. 
 
 One of Lavrov's deputies, Grigory Karasin, spoke by telephone with a Ukrainian deputy foreign minister on Tuesday and expressed "concern about provocative actions by radical opposition forces", the Russian Foreign Ministry said. 
 
 It said Russia supported a Ukrainian statement that promised the government would do all it can to resolve the situation peacefully through dialogue - a pledge some opposition protesters suspect was a bid to buy time. 
 
 "We are waiting to see what these talks produce, but there's little hope. Yanukovich is pretending he does not see us or hear us," said Vasyl Somkovych, 30, a protester from the region of Ivano-Frankivsk in largely pro-European western Ukraine. 
 
 In Kiev, a presidential aide ruled out the declaration of a state of emergency to quell the unrest. 
 
 Asked by a journalist if the presidency was considering such a step, Andriy Klyuev, secretary of the National Council of Security and Defense, said: "There will be no declaration of a state of emergency. 
 
 On Tuesday, 2,000-3,000 protesters faced about 1,000 police in central Kiev, where Reuters reporters saw nine burnt-out buses and trucks, smoke wafting from some of the tyres. 
 
 Cobblestones were strewn across a main street where violence erupted on Sunday. Priests were among people walking in an area between a police line and a protesters' barricade. 
 
 Police periodically beat their shields with truncheons and constantly boomed out warnings to protesters through megaphones. 
 
 "We will act according to the situation," said Sergei, 45, a protester from western Ukraine. "If the OMON (riot police) attack, we will respond with full force." 
 
 (Editing by Gareth Jones and Janet Lawrence) nL5N0KV115 ||||| Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, blamed politicians from the European Union and the United States for encouraging the fighting over the past three days. The situation in the city, he warned, was “getting out of control.” 
 
 “It seems someone is interested in this chaos,” Mr. Lavrov said Tuesday at a news conference in Moscow. 
 
 He noted that American diplomats had said in December at a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that the Ukrainian government should heed the opinion of the population and seek greater integration with Europe or risk instability. “What was this, prophecy or a prediction?” he said. 
 
 The European Union issued no official response to Mr. Lavrov, but its officials say it has never condoned or encouraged violence, as Mr. Lavrov seemed to suggest it had done by having an official mingle with the protesters when they first turned out two months ago. 
 
 At a meeting in Brussels on Monday, European foreign ministers released a final statement on Ukraine saying that “the E.U. remains committed to Ukraine’s political association and economic integration” with Europe “as soon as Ukraine is ready.” 
 
 Renewed Clashes in Kiev Trade Unions Building Independence Square Dynamo Stadium POLICE LINE Crowd on weekdays DOWNTOWN KIEV Parliament City Hall taken by protesters 1,000 FEET Recent clashes Protesters tried to march to Parliament on Sunday but were stopped by riot police. Clashes continued here through the week. It remains unclear where the protesters killed on Wednesday died. Young men captured Protesters detained men they said were pro-government provocateurs in this area on Tuesday and took them to the Trade Unions Building for questioning. Protest barricades Protesters barricaded this portion of the city in December and have remained since. The size of the crowd varies and is smaller on weekdays. 
 
 Protest leaders said the authorities seemed to be giving the more radical protesters free rein while going out of their way to frighten more moderate ones, particularly with the threatening text messages sent on Tuesday. 
 
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 The phrasing of the message, about participating in a “mass disturbance,” echoed language in a new law making it a crime to participate in a protest deemed violent. The law took effect on Tuesday. And protesters were concerned that the government seemed to be using cutting-edge technology from the advertising industry to pinpoint people for political profiling. 
 
 Three cellphone companies in Ukraine — Kyivstar, MTS and Life — denied that they had provided the location data to the government or had sent the text messages, the newspaper Ukrainskaya Pravda reported. Kyivstar suggested that it was instead the work of a “pirate” cellphone tower set up in the area. 
 
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 The messages appeared to have little effect. Three hours after they were sent, riot police officers pushed past barricades of burned buses at that site and were met by a crowd of protesters in ski masks and bicycle helmets, carrying sticks and ready to fight. 
 
 The police fired plastic bullets and threw stun grenades. They pressed as far as a cobblestone-throwing catapult built by protesters the day before and dismantled it before retreating. 
 
 The opposition leaders who are members of parliamentary factions face a difficult choice over whether to embrace or denounce the more radical groups as the demonstrations grow more violent. So far, the politicians have condemned those fighting with the police as not representing the aspirations of the larger number of peaceful protesters who have gathered in Independence Square since November in support of closer economic integration with the European Union. 
 
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 Some of those fighting the police, carrying baseball bats and throwing gasoline bombs say they are supporters of the European free-trade agreement whose rejection by Mr. Yanukovich set off the protests. 
 
 But other groups have also appeared in Kiev, adding to the sense of chaos. Young men carrying sticks wandered side streets near the central square threatening to beat protesters who walked alone. One group shattered a shop window. 
 
 The opposition leaders have said they believe that these people are soccer hooligans and unemployed men bused into Kiev by the government to provide a proxy force to intimidate protesters and darken the image of the movement by highlighting the violence. 
 
 “Disorders should not be allowed to happen,” Vitali Klitschko, a former boxing champion and the leader of the political party Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform, wrote on Twitter. “This is a plan of authorities to introduce a state of emergency.” 
 
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 Early Tuesday, opposition activists detained about a dozen of these rival young men and marched them to one of several buildings occupied by protesters, where several admitted in videotaped conversations that they had been promised 200 hryvnia, or about $25, to cause trouble. But they were not able to explain clearly who had hired them. 
 
 A civic activist who has been prominent in the movement, Ihor Lutsenko, was missing on Tuesday after men forced him into a car in the parking lot of a hospital, according to a Facebook post by his wife. 
 
 The protests, which peaked in December, had seemed to be fading, but were re-energized by opposition to the new laws against public assembly. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Matthew Price reports from inside the occupied Ukrainian justice ministry in Kiev 
 
 Ukraine's justice minister has warned anti-government protesters occupying her ministry she will call for a state of emergency if they do not leave. 
 
 Olena Lukash told local media she would ask the National Security and Defence Council to introduce the measures. 
 
 The ministry became the latest government building to be occupied on Sunday, with protesters setting up bags of snow as barricades outside. 
 
 Unrest and occupations of municipal buildings are spreading across Ukraine. 
 
 Analysis At the moment, Ukrainian officials are only discussing the possibility of introducing a state of emergency. The question at the heart of the debate is whether the government can count on the loyalty of enough troops to first clear the streets of Ukraine's cities, and then deal with the inevitable violent backlash. Nobody knows where the sympathies lie of each and every one of the country's soldiers, interior troops, riot police and other forces at the government's disposal. But it is safe to say that a large number of those who come from the country's centre and west, where the protest movement is strongest, would refuse to follow orders from President Viktor Yanukovych - just as their neighbours, friends and family members are refusing to relinquish central squares in Kiev and elsewhere in the country. If authorities do choose to crack down, and they don't have enough forces on their side, then, instead of restoring order to the country, it would very likely spell the end of Mr Yanukovych. 
 
 Buildings have come under attack even in eastern areas, which have traditionally had closer ties with Russia and where President Viktor Yanukovych has enjoyed strong support. 
 
 The crisis was sparked by the president's decision not to sign a deal with the European Union, and has escalated with the deaths of four activists in recent days. 
 
 Correspondents say protesters entered the justice ministry building in the capital without resistance. 
 
 "The seizure of the Ministry of Justice is a symbolic act of the people of the uprising. Now, these authorities are stripped of justice," one protester told reporters. 
 
 One of the organisers of the occupation, who gave his name as Oleg, told the Associated Press news agency: "We are not going to do any hooliganism, or have anyone hurt. We are peaceful people, we are for justice." 
 
 But Ms Lukash told Inter TV channel: "If the protesters do not leave the justice ministry building... I will ask the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine to impose the state of emergency." 
 
 The minister is an ally of President Yanukovych and involved in the ongoing negotiations between the government and protest leaders. 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption Olena Lukash has been closely involved in talks between the government and the protesters 
 
 She said she would be "forced to turn to the Ukrainian president with a request to stop the negotiations unless the justice ministry building is vacated without delay and the negotiators are given a chance to find a peaceful solution to the conflict". 
 
 Last week, the parliament of the Crimean Autonomous Republic - seen as a staunch supporter of Mr Yanukovych - also urged the president to declare a state of emergency. 
 
 The BBC's David Stern in Kiev says it is not clear what such a measure would involve, but could entail the army being deployed. 
 
 The government has previously insisted it would not resort to the army, a measure our correspondent says would likely further antagonise the protesters and worsen the violence. 
 
 The parliament is due to meet for an extraordinary session on Tuesday, but the speaker has previously said a state of emergency will not be under discussion. 
 
 The EU delegation to Ukraine has called for the government to abide by promises it makes to protesters, and to revoke the protest laws. 
 
 In a statement, it expressed concern over reports of human rights abuses, and called on protesters to remain peaceful and distance themselves from violence. 
 
 The EU's enlargement commissioner Stefan Fule is returning to Kiev on Monday for talks with both sides on ending the crisis. 
 
 Spreading east 
 
 Street protests began in Kiev in November, after President Yanukovych announced he would not sign the long-awaited EU free trade agreement. 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption Protesters have been building barricades with whatever they can find on the streets 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Activists fill up sacks with snow to build a barricade in front of the Ministry of Justice building 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption The violence is taking place away from the longstanding protest camp in Kiev's Independence Square 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption They have been camped out in Kiev in below-freezing temperatures since late November 
 
 The protesters were further angered by the introduction of new laws last week aimed at cracking down on unrest by banning tents being put up in public places and the wearing of helmets and masks. 
 
 Key dates 21 Nov 2013: Ukraine announces it will not sign a deal aimed at strengthening ties with the EU 30 Nov: Riot police detain dozens of anti-government protesters in a violent crackdown in Kiev 17 Dec: Russia agrees to buy $15bn of Ukrainian government bonds and slash the price of gas it sells to the country 22 Jan 2014: Two protesters die from bullet wounds during clashes with police in Kiev; protests spread across many cities 25 Jan: President Yanukovych offers senior jobs to the opposition, including that of prime minister, but these are rejected Q&A: Stand-off in Ukraine Ukrainian and Russian media review 
 
 The opposition is demanding that the EU deal be signed, political prisoners - including former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko - freed and the new laws repealed. 
 
 The fresh unrest comes after opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk rejected President Yanukovych's offer to appoint him prime minister, saying the key demands must be met. 
 
 Although the protest movement - the EuroMaidan - is largely peaceful, a hardcore of radicals have been fighting battles with police away from the main protest camp in Kiev's Maidan, or Independence Square. 
 
 The unrest is now spreading further into the country's east, which is seen as Mr Yanukovych's support base. 
 
 Unrest was also reported across the country, with protests and at least a dozen attempts - some successful - to seize government buildings. 
 
 Towns and cities affected include: Zaporizhzhya and Dnipropetrovsk in the south-east, Cherkasy, south of Kiev: the main western city of Lviv: Chernihiv and Sumy in the north and Odessa on the Black Sea coast.
– Scourge of the modern protester: Ukraine demonstrators this morning got this text on their cell phones: “Dear subscriber, you are registered as a participant in a mass disturbance," reports the New York Times. The threat is clear enough, given that the government also made it a crime punishable by prison to take part in such demonstrations. But the attempt to scare away protesters didn't work—clashes with police continued in Kiev. Protesters have been taking to the streets for two months now, angry that President Viktor Yanukovych rejected a trade pact with the EU in favor of stronger ties with Russia. An opposition leader arrived at Yanukovych's office today but was rebuffed by the leader, reports AP. Russia, meanwhile, accused European nations of encouraging the protests and demanded that they stop "meddling," reports Reuters. "The situation is spinning out of control," says Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.