Yatsenyuk threatens to quit as Ukraine PM

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Friday threatened to quit along with his entire government in the latest escalation of a political crisis rocking the former Soviet state.

The warning raises the possibility of Ukraine holding snap parliamentary polls should Yatsenyuk's replacement fail to win lawmakers' approval or the current pro-Western coalition breaks up and a new one is not formed.

But analysts said the prospects of pro-Russian forces storming back to power in elections and Ukraine losing vital Western financial support made Yatsenyuk's statement sound more like a bluff designed to reinforce his increasingly insecure position.

"If it is decided that this team should be changed, then we will all leave together," the 41-year-old former banker told a televised meeting of parliament.

Ukraine has been on edge since the shock resignation on Wednesday of its reformist Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius.

The Lithuanian-born economy chief accused a top member of President Petro Poroshenko's party of trying to get his own people into senior ministry posts and blocking his efforts to break the tycoons' years-long stranglehold on state industries.

Abromavicius has further been quoted as saying that he would like to see US-born Economy Minister Natalie Jaresko -- a key player in restructuring Ukraine's massive debt -- replace his foe Yatsenyuk.

The resignation sparked alarm among Ukraine's Western allies and prompted Poroshenko to hold a meeting with ambassadors from the G7 countries in a bid to allay their concerns.