AKIPRESS.COM - Ukraine's Western-backed government survived a no-confidence vote on Tuesday, staving off the immediate prospect of a snap election in a country fighting a deep recession and a pro-Russian separatist insurgency.

The vote took place just hours after President Petro Poroshenko publicly urged the prime minister to resign, a move that underscored the level of political infighting that has derailed efforts to implement lasting reforms, reports Reuters.

Ukraine's international backers have invested much money and political capital backing the government in its stand-off with Moscow after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 following the overthrow of Kiev's pro-Russian president by protesters.

But the former Soviet republic's failure to tackle corruption and implement reforms has already derailed a Western aid program that keeps its economy afloat, and a ceasefire with pro-Russian separatists in the east has been fraying.

The fact that the no-confidence vote happened at all underlined the public's growing disillusion with the leaders it elected after the 2013-14 Maidan uprising that raised hopes of transforming the country. It means the government will probably be safe at least until the next parliament session starts in September.

A year-old ceasefire agreement has failed to stop the separatist conflict in Ukraine's eastern industrial belt. Three Ukrainian servicemen were killed in the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian military said, the highest death toll since November.

The vote to topple Yatseniuk mustered 194 votes, dozens of votes short the 226 required, with many opposition lawmakers walking out before the vote took place. In a sign of possible further trouble down the line, the majority of the ruling coalition voted against the government,

Poroshenko had said Yatseniuk's government had lost public support and committed "more mistakes than achievements". Poroshenko heads Ukraine's largest party, and Yatseniuk the next largest. Both are in the governing coalition.

Yatseniuk took office in 2014. His approval ratings have plunged to below 1 percent but he had no obvious successor, although the parliamentary speaker and the technocrat finance minister were considered contenders. Hundreds of protesters rallied outside parliament, demanding he step down.