By MARIA DANILOVA
Protesters chant slogans outside the Parliament in Kiev, Ukraine, on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013. Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesday opened a high-tension session in which the opposition aims to put forward a vote of no-confidence in the government in the wake of both the president’s shelving an agreement with the European Union and police violence against demonstrators protesting that decision. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Mykola Azarov
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Mykola Azarov speaks to lawmakers during the parliament session in Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013. Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesday opened a high-tension session in which the opposition aims to put forward a vote of no-confidence in the government in the wake of both the president’s shelving an agreement with the European Union and police violence against demonstrators protesting that decision. Ukraine’s opposition has failed in its attempt to force out the government with a no-confidence vote in parliament.(AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Ukraine Protest
Ukrainian national, right, and nationalist’s flags wave as protesters crowd rallying at the central Independence square in Kiev, Ukraine, on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013. Ukraine’s opposition has failed Tuesday to force out the government with a no-confidence vote in parliament, leaving the country’s high political tensions unresolved. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
Ukraine Protest
Protesters hold placard with a portrait of President Viktor Yanukovych and reading “Tsar” as they rally at the central Independence square in Kiev, Ukraine, on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013. Ukraine’s opposition has failed Tuesday to force out the government with a no-confidence vote in parliament, leaving the country’s high political tensions unresolved. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Ukraine Protest
Ukrainian national flag waves as protesters rally at the central Independence square in Kiev, Ukraine, on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013. Ukraine’s opposition failed Tuesday to force out the government with a no-confidence vote in parliament, leaving the country’s high political tensions unresolved, and with some thousands of people demonstrating on the streets of the capital. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
Arseniy Yatsenyuk
Ukrainian opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk speaks to protesters outside Parliament after its session in Kiev, Ukraine, on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013. Ukraine’s opposition has failed Tuesday to force out the government with a no-confidence vote in parliament, leaving the country’s high political tensions unresolved. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov)
Mykola Azarov
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, right, talks to lawmakers in a crowded parliament as he sits with members of the Cabinet during a parliamentary session in Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013. The opposition called for a vote of no-confidence in the government, Tuesday, to protest a shelving of a long-anticipated agreement to deepen political and economic ties with the European Union and the violent tactics used by police to disperse demonstrators. The government survived the no-confidence vote, leaving the country’s high political tensions unresolved, and with some hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating on the streets of the capital. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Mykola Azarov
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Mykola Azarov reacts after a failed attempt to force out the government with a no-confidence vote in parliament, during the parliament session in Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013. Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesday opened a high-tension session in which the opposition aims to put forward a vote of no-confidence in the government in the wake of both the president’s shelving an agreement with the European Union and police violence against demonstrators protesting that decision. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
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KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s opposition failed to force out the government with a parliamentary no-confidence vote Tuesday, leaving political tensions unresolved and a potential standoff between protesters and the country’s leaders looming.
The opposition called for the vote in protest both of President Viktor Yanukovych’s shelving of a long-anticipated agreement to deepen political and economic ties with the European Union and the violent tactics used by police to disperse demonstrators protesting that decision.
The dispute has brought crowds of up to 300,000 people to the streets of Kiev, the largest outpouring of public anger since the 2004 Orange Revolution.
The no-confidence measure got the support of 186 members of the Verkhovna Rada, 40 shy of the majority needed. Even if it had passed, Yanukovych would have remained president, but the prime minister and Cabinet would have been ejected.
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, attending the parliamentary session with his Cabinet, apologized for the violence by riot police against protesters.
“Both the president and the government feel deeply sorry that it happened,” Azarov told a rowdy parliament, to unceasing chants of “Shame” and “Resignation” from opposition lawmakers.
But Azarov defended the government’s course, denouncing protesters who have blocked access to government offices and warning the opposition that authorities will be able to hold their ground.
“We are open for dialogue,” Azarov said. “We have extended our hand to you, but if we encounter a fist, I will be frank, we have enough force.”
In turn, Vitali Klitschko, the superheavyweight world boxing champion and leader of the opposition party Udar, vowed that the action would continue.
“We will peacefully blockade the government building and not allow them to work,” he told demonstrators on Independence Square after the no-confidence motion failed.
During the vote, several thousand protesters rallied outside the parliament building, which was cordoned off by white police buses and riot police in full gear.
After the vote failed, the opposition urged Ukrainians to continue protests. About 5,000 demonstrators gathered outside Yanukvoych’s office and demand that he sign a decree dismissing Azarov’s Cabinet and call an early election.
“If he thinks he is going to evade responsibility, he is wrong,” opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk said.
The president’s office, however, said he had left the country for a trip to China, where he is expected to sign an array of economic agreements.
Azarov, like Yanukovych, has said Ukraine wants further integration with the EU, but can’t now bear the burden of the trade losses with Russia it would presumably suffer. Ukraine is also deeply dependent on natural gas from Russia, which previously has sharply raised prices for its neighbor.
Russia opposes closer Ukraine-EU relations, hoping to draw Ukraine into a trading bloc of several former Soviet republics.
Lawmakers in Poland, a country at the forefront of EU attempts to bring Ukraine into the 28-nation bloc’s fold, adopted a resolution calling for dialogue between Ukraine’s opposition and the government. It also condemned the use of force during protests and expressed solidarity with pro-European Ukrainians.
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Associated Press writers Yuras Karmanau in Kiev and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.
