Fresh fighting broke out in central Kiev on Thursday, shattering a truce declare d by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, as the

Russian-backed leader met Eur opean ministers demanding he compromise with pro-EU opponents. A Reuters photographer saw the bodies of 21 dead civilians in Independence Squar e, a few hundred meters (yards) from where the president met the EU delegation, after protesters who have occupied the area for almost three months hurled petro l bombs and paving stones to drive riot police out of the plaza. The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland were due to report back to E U colleagues in Brussels later on Thursday who will decide on possible targeted sanctions against those deemed responsible for the bloodshed. A Ukrainian presidential statement said dozens of police were killed or wounded during the opposition offensive hours after Yanukovich and opposition leaders ha d agreed on a truce. Witnesses said they saw snipers firing during the clashes. That raised the death toll since Tuesday to near 50, including at least 10 polic e - by far the bloodiest hours of Ukraine's 22-year post-Soviet history. Local m edia said more than 30 protesters were killed in Thursday's flare-up. The country is the object of a geopolitical tug-of-war between Moscow, which see s it as the historical cradle of Russian civilization, and the West, which says Ukrainians should be free to choose economic rapprochement with the EU. The renewed fighting, which subsided after about an hour, heightened concern voi ced by neighboring Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk that Ukraine could descend into civil war or split between the pro-European West and Russian-speaking east. The EU ministers' meeting with Yanukovich was delayed for security reasons but b egan an hour late. They expected to present him with a mixture of sanctions and enticements to make a deal with his opponents that could end the bloodshed. A statement from Yanukovich's office said: "They (the protesters) are working in organized groups. They are using firearms, including sniper rifles. They are sh ooting to kill. "The number of dead and injured among police officers is dozens," the statement on the presidential website said. Opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko said on Sky TV: "As we can see the truce has broken." Television showed activists in combat fatigues leading several captured, uniform ed policemen across the square. POLICE OFFICERS CAPTURED Activists who recaptured the square, known as Maidan or "Euro-Maidan" to the opp osition, appeared to lead away several uniformed officers. Dozens of wounded pro testers were being given makeshift first aid treatment in the lobby of the Ukrai ne Hotel, where many foreign correspondents are staying.