KIEV, Ukraine — The interim leaders of Ukraine stepped on the brakes Tuesday as they faced resistance from street protesters and some members of parliament, who objected that they were moving too fast in forming a new cabinet just three days after the old regime collapsed.

New ministers for every department were supposed to be in place by the end of the day. But strenuous protests from the Maidan – the city’s main square that is still thickly populated with demonstrators – about a lack of input forced the leaders of parliament to wait at least until Thursday, despite European worries that Ukraine needs to move quickly to get its financial house in order.

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Ukrainian and Russian flags are displayed in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday. The Associated Press

And members of the parliament, or Verkhovna Rada, complained that the speaker, Oleksandr Turchynov, was pushing bills through with little regard for debate or transparency – much as his predecessor had railroaded a package of harshly repressive laws through the parliament in January.

But the slowdown also comes as Ukraine remains deeply unsettled by the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych. In Kharkiv, a large eastern city where hostility to the Maidan was strong, tensions ran high as rival crowds faced off, with no one seemingly in charge. In the Crimea, with a strong pro-Russian population, a Russian flag was raised on a major government building and four Russian legislators met with local officials.

Officials in Moscow continued Tuesday to express displeasure with events in Ukraine, if not as harshly as the day before. One bill that flew through the Rada on Monday downgraded the status of Russian as an official language, which struck critics as an unnecessary and incendiary move.

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