An accordion player, surrounded by protesters, stands and plays music next to a large drum which is being used to cook food in the tent city that has been built on the Maidan in Kiev. Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square), renamed Euro Maidan by protesters who have camped out there since 21 November 2013, has become the focal point for an enduring protest movement against the government of Viktor Yanukovych. The protests were sparked by the Ukrainian government's decision to suspend preparations for the signing of an association agreement with the European Union that would have increased trade with the EU. Some believe that the U-turn came about as a result of pressure from President Putin of Russia who wants Ukraine to join a customs union with itself, Kazakhstan and Belarus.