Ukraine to vote for new Prime Minister

Ukraine's parliament is to try to vote for a replacement for Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, following the announcement of his resignation on Sunday, after his government was accused of inaction and corruption.

Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Groysman has been nominated by President Petro Poroshenko's party to replace Yatsenyuk, but reports suggest he may not take the post, as the country is faced with a  growing sense of political crisis.

Yatsenyuk has been in office since former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted during huge demonstrations in February 2014, and during the announcement of his resignation, Yatsenyuk accused Ukraine's politicians of failing to enact "real changes".

His loss of parliamentary support led to him being asked by President Poroshenko to resign in February amid complaints of government inaction and corruption. Although he survived a vote of confidence he has remained unpopular in the polls.

International media report that so far, there has been no progress towards the creation of a stable reform-minded government, to the dismay of Western supporters, as many reformists have left the government in recent weeks.

Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius resigned over two months ago after accusing the government of not being committed enough to end corruption.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has threatened to withhold aid money if Ukraine does not carry out reforms, and the country’s ambitions to join the EU also suffered a setback on 6 April when the Netherlands rejected an EU trade deal with them in a referendum.

The government in Kiev is signed up to an uneasy truce with pro-Russian rebels in two of Ukraine's eastern regions, with frequent ceasefire violations reported.

Russia annexed the southern region of Crimea two years ago after a controversial referendum on self-determination.