Mr Yatsenyuk addressed parliament before his government was voted unsatisfactory
Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy
Yatsenyuk has survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote, hours after
the president asked him to step down.
The prime minister has been criticised over the slow pace of reforms and faces allegations of corruption.
Earlier, President Petro Poroshenko said the PM had lost the support of the coalition and the country's trust.
Mr Yatsenyuk's public support has eroded amid Ukraine's economic problems. Ukraine teeters a few steps from chaos Ukraine country profile
The no-confidence motion required 226 votes to pass, but only 194 out of the 339 MPs supported it.
The decision came moments after lawmakers voted the cabinet's work in 2015 unsatisfactory.
In
a passionate speech to parliament earlier, Mr Yatsenyuk said his
government had done all it could under difficult circumstances.
"We have built the foundations for a new country. Let's build a new
Ukraine: do not stop. Reforms are the only way forward," he said.
Troubles from start
A
former speaker of parliament and foreign minister, Mr Yatsenyuk was one
of the main opposition leaders during the massive protests that removed
former pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.
Only two
weeks after Mr Yatsenyuk took up his post, Russia annexed Crimea and,
soon after, a violent pro-Moscow insurgency raged in the industrial
east.
Even though he is credited with helping negotiate a rescue
package with Western countries, there has been growing public discontent
with the lack of economic progress.
Supporters of the nationalist Svoboda (Freedom) party have urged Mr Yatsenyuk to resign
Recent opinion polls suggest that support for the prime minister's bloc is at 1%.
Mr
Yatsenyuk has promised to tackle corruption, but has become the focus
of similar accusations, although no concrete evidence has emerged.
He
has also faced infighting, which culminated with Mr Poroshenko's call
for his resignation on Tuesday. The president said "surgical means" were
needed to restore trust.
Mr Poroshenko heads Ukraine's largest party, and Mr Yatsenyuk the next largest, and both are in the ruling coalition.
Economy
Minister Aivaras Abromavicius, seen as a key reformer by the West,
resigned earlier this month, claiming that huge quantities of money were
being diverted from the government.
Western governments have previously expressed concern over the resignation of reform-minded figures.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has threatened to withhold aid money to Ukraine if it does not carry out reforms.
Also
on Tuesday, the country's controversial prosecutor general Viktor
Shokin resigned, following a call from Mr Poroshenko for him to step
down.
