The prime minister's departure on Tuesday brought encouragement to those at Kiev's sprawling protest encampment but no inclination to end their demonstrations.
“The authorities are afraid and making concessions. We should use this moment and continue our fight to achieve a change of power in Ukraine,” said 23-year-old demonstrator Oleg Rudakov.
The opposition had accused Azarov of mismanaging the economy and condoning corruption, and they have ridiculed the Russian-speaker for his poor command of Ukrainian. Animosity toward him grew after the protests started in November when he labeled demonstrators extremists and refused to listen to any of their demands.
As head of the Cabinet, he was also seen as bearing responsibility for the recent use of force by police.
Yanukovych's cash-strapped government just managed to avoid bankruptcy with the money pledged in November by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia spent $3 billion to buy Ukrainian government bonds in December and has promised to spend up to $15 billion total.
Putin said Tuesday that Russia will abide by the deal to buy those bonds and offer its neighbor cheaper natural gas even if the Ukrainian government ends up being led by the opposition.
Russia's main concern regarding Ukraine is to protect Russia's financial commitments not worry about geopolitical concerns, Putin said in Brussels at a Russia-EU summit.
“Will we revise our agreements on credits and energy if the opposition comes to power? No we won't,” he said.
