Embattled Ukrainian PM Yatsenyuk resigns

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announces his resignation in the wake of a months-long political crisis that has paralyzed the government and frozen the release of vital Western aid.

“Having done everything to ensure stability and make a smooth transition of power possible, I decided to step down from the post of prime minister of Ukraine,” the pro-Western leader says in a weekly television address.

The tough-talking prime minister’s decision comes barely two months after he survived a bruising parliamentary no-confidence hearing in which lawmakers took turns takings jabs at the job he has done since February 2014.

Yatsenyuk, 41, says President Petro Poroshenko’s party has already nominated parliament speaker Volodymyr Groysman to succeed him and that he will not stand in the way.

“From today onward, I see my goals in a broader light than just heading the government,” he says.

— AFP