BRUSSELS, Feb. 19 - The European Investment Bank said on Wednesday it had frozen its activities in Ukraine after at least 26 people died in the worst violence since the former Soviet republic gained independence.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the largest financial investor in Ukraine, said it had already scaled back its dealings with Kiev but had not suspended operations, Reuters reported.

Ukraine has been gripped by renewed political turmoil since November, when President Viktor Yanukovych spurned a trade pact with the European Union and opted instead for closer economic ties with former Soviet master Russia.