KIEV, Dec. 24 – President Viktor Yanukovych believes the opposition's protests on Independence Square in Kiev in support of closer integration with the European Union, known widely as Euromaidan, are a sign of the people's desire to live better.

"When we saw such an upsurge in society and when we saw Euromaidan, I said at the very start that there is nothing bad in this. This is the people's aspiration for a better life," the Ukrainian presidential press service quoted Yanukovych as saying at a meeting with candidates for heads of district administrations on Tuesday.