Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko on Thursday sacked his cabinet and appointed a loyal and moderate ally to take over as prime minister from the populist Yulia Tymoshenko, after accusing her of engaging in divisive conflicts with other members of his political team.

Mr Yushchenko said Ms Tymoshenko and his national security chief, Petro Poroshenko, who had earlier resigned, had “lost their team spirit and trust” and had forced him to play the role of arbiter between competing institutions within his own administration.