Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Ukraine's Prime Minister Quits After Allies Withdraw From Coalition

Ukraine's prime minister announced today that he is resigning after two parties said they were withdrawing from the ruling coalition.

"I am announcing my resignation in connection with the collapse of the coalition," Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said, adding Parliament could no longer do its work.

The Associated Press adds:

"The nationalist Svoboda party and the Udar party led by former boxer Vitali Klitschko pulled out of the group of legislators that took over after former President Viktor Yanukovich was ousted by protesters seeking closer ties with the European Union. Parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchynov said it was up to Udar and Svoboda to propose a candidate for temporary prime minister to lead the government until early parliamentary elections can be held."

The New York Times adds that it's unclear if Yatsenyuk's announcement was symbolic or if he actually was leaving the government.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Krishnadev Calamur is NPR's deputy Washington editor. In this role, he helps oversee planning of the Washington desk's news coverage. He also edits NPR's Supreme Court coverage. Previously, Calamur was an editor and staff writer at The Atlantic. This is his second stint at NPR, having previously worked on NPR's website from 2008-15. Calamur received an M.A. in journalism from the University of Missouri.