Europe

Ukraine's Prime Minister To Resign After 2 Years In Office

After Ukraine's president called for Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's resignation in February, Yatsenyuk has finally announced he will resign.

Ukraine's Prime Minister To Resign After 2 Years In Office
Getty Images / John Moore
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After two years in office, Ukraine's prime minister announced he will submit his resignation Tuesday.  

Arseniy Yatsenyuk tweeted, "The political crisis is artificial" and compared his desire to change the government to "running in place."

Yatsenyuk took leadership alongside a new president after protests demanded pro-Russian leader Viktor Yanukovych's resignation. 

But Ukraine's conflict with Russia initially worsened once Yanukovych left. Yatsenyuk's government was pro-European Union and NATO, something Russia is vocally against. 

Corruption rumors and stricter laws left Yatsenyuk's ratings to plummet. President Petro Poroshenko called for Yatsenyuk's resignation in February. Poroshenko's party has already nominated a replacement. 

Yatsenyuk said his goals for Ukraine's membership in the EU and NATO are still high, along with "new electoral law, constitutional reform [and] judicial reform" in the country. It's unclear if he'll still be involved in government. 

This video includes clips from Facebook / Arseniy YatsenyukUkraine TodayArseniy Yatsenyuk and images from Vadim Chuprina / CC BY SA 4.0 and Getty Images.