The protests in the Ukraine show no signs of slowing down as nearly 2,000 pro-West demonstrators flooded the streets of Kiev on Tuesday. The protesters defied hordes of riot police and set up camp in Kiev’s snowy Independence Square as they continued their call for President Viktor Yanukovych’s resignation.

“Ukraine is tired of Yanukovych. We need new rules. We need to completely change those in power,” 42-year-old Kostyantyn Meselyuk told the Associated Press. “Europe can help us.”

Continued demonstrations follow a particularly active weekend, where protesters toppled a statue of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin. Protesters are calling on their government to turn away from a trades deal with Russia and instead accept one that would bring it closer to the European Union. Despite last week’s violent police response to demonstrations, protests have been relatively calm this week.

Western powers have repeatedly called on Yanukovych to head his people’s call for closer ties to the EU. The U.S. embassy in Moscow released a statement from U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland saying, “The U.S. supports Ukraine’s European choice, a non-violent and just political resolution to the current standoff, and a return to economic health with support of the International Monetary Fund.”

After initially refusing to sign a deal with the EU, Yanukovych appeared to backtrack amid growing descent. The embattled president called on the EU to reopen negotiations last week but was met with a chilly response from European Commision President Jose Manuel Barroso, who told Yanukovych the deal was not up for renegotiation.

On Tuesday, following a meeting with three former Ukrainian leaders, Yanukovych expressed willingness to free demonstrators arrested in recent protests, the AP reported. The release of those arrested could help pacify the thousands that have rallied in the capital.

However, a recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin has lingered over the president’s head. Some worry that Yanukovych agreed to a Russian-dominated customs union of ex-Soviet states, Reuters reported. Such a deal would destroy prospects of a deal with the EU.

The Ukraine is suffering from a debilitating financial crisis. According to Reuters, Kiev is expected to pay just below $4 billion in debt repayments and Russian gas bills in the first three months of 2014. However, its foreign reserves have been eroded.

The six-year-long negotiations with the EU came to an abrupt halt when Yanukovych rejected a European integration deal. Yanukovych defended his decision by saying the financial aid deal offered by the EU did not offset the lost trade with Russia.

During a televised interview last week, the president said, “What kind of agreement is it if they take us and bend us?” He added, “I, for one, think we shouldn’t give in, we should defend our own interest.”

According to Reuters, the ongoing conflict has divided the Eastern European nation. Ukraine’s 46 million people have been split by its Russian-speaking East, which prefers an economic alliance with Russia, and its Ukrainian-speaking West, which is pushing for closer ties to the EU.