Ukraine Prime Minister Yatsenyuk announces resignation

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk announced in a televised broadcast on Sunday that he has decided to offer his resignation.

Yatsenyuk's resignation came in less than two months after surviving a no-confidence vote in parliament.

"I decided to step down from the post of prime minister of Ukraine," he said in a message aired by Ukrainian channels, Interfax news agency reported.

"I took the decision to resign as prime minister of Ukraine. On Tuesday, April 12, I will submit it to parliament. My decision is based on several reasons - the political crisis in the government has been unleashed artificially, the desire to change one person has blinded politicians and paralysed their will to bring about real changes in the country," he said.

In February, Yatsenyuk's Cabinet survived a no-confidence vote. However, two parties left the governing coalition to protest the failure to oust the prime minister, who is under pressure over the crippling economy and slow pace of reforms.

The withdrawal deprived the coalition of its majority in the Ukrainian parliament. If lawmakers fail to form a new coalition and unite behind a new prime minister, that may lead to early elections, which President Petro Poroshenko has sought to avoid for fear of further destabilising the situation in the country.

Over 6,200 people have been killed in the fighting between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists, which started in April 2014 after the separatists gained control of large parts of the two regions.

The fighting broke out one month after Russia annexed Crimea, Ukraine's southern peninsula.