Ukraine’s President asks PM Yatsenyuk to resign

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has asked the Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, to resign, saying he has lost the support of the ruling coalition, the BBC reports.

But Poroshenko said there would not be a snap election.

Mr Yatsenyuk’s government has been criticised over the slow pace of reform and faces allegations of corruption.

Western governments have expressed concern over the resignation of reform-minded figures from the government.

“The cabinet has lost the coalition’s trust,” the president said in a statement.

“To restore this trust, therapy is not enough. One should resort to surgical means,” he added, saying it was “obvious” that there is demand for a “complete reset of the cabinet”.

The president said a new cabinet could be formed by the existing parliamentary coalition.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk is due to address parliament, where he faces the threat of a vote of no confidence.

Mr Poroshenko’s party will vote to criticise Mr Yatsenyuk’s performance as “unsatisfactory”, its leader Yuriy Lutsenko told parliament.