A Ukrainian court has freed nine people arrested during clashes between pro-EU protesters and riot police, a key demand of the protest movement.

The nine were arrested during a violent crackdown on 30 November to drive protesters away from the presidential administration in the capital Kiev.

The first round of talks between protesters and President Viktor Yanukovych has made little progress.

Demonstrators are arriving in Kiev ahead of a mass rally on Sunday.

Hundreds of demonstrators remain camped out in freezing temperatures on Independence Square, behind barricades of snow and ice, reinforced with pallets, benches, metal barriers and wire netting.

The protests erupted last month after President Yanukovych pulled out of an association agreement with Brussels, which would have been a crucial step towards the former Soviet republic's integration into the EU.

His government continues to give conflicting signals over whether it will press ahead with the agreement after all.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, which put pressure on Kiev to reject the agreement, has warned of a "tectonic split" threatening the existence of Ukraine as a state.

He described the appearance of EU politicians at the protests as "crude interference" in Ukraine's affairs.