Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk resigns during TV address to nation

Ukraine's embattled Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk resigned on Sunday during his weekly TV address to the nation. Yatseniuk, who had been prime minister since 2014, stood down just two months after he narrowly avoided a vote of no confidence and amidst an ongoing political crisis.

Yatseniuk said that he will submit his resignation to the Ukrainian parliament on 12 April and was scathing of his political enemies, which he accused of focusing on him rather than on the problems Ukraine faced.

"My decision is based on a several reasons: the political crisis in the government has been unleashed artificially, the desire to change one person has blinded politicians and paralyzed their will to bring about real changes in the country," he said.

Yatseniuk's position had been increasingly perilous since his public falling out with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who asked him to resign earlier this year and, when he refused, brought a no confidence vote against him.

Though Yatseniuk survived the vote, two of the parties in his governing coalition abandoned him meaning he no longer had a majority in parliament.

Following the address he took to Twitter to thanks his supporters and pledge to continue to have a role in politics in Ukraine.

"I thank our nation, society, civil society activists, volunteers; I thank each and every one of you for your endurance and patience. The core of our problems is not purely political. It is ethical. If morality requires changing the polit. [sic] rules, then it's certain to occur," he said.

"As of today my goals are broader: new electoral law, constitutional reform, judicial reform, Ukraine's membership in the EU and NATO."