Ukraine will push ahead with efforts to join the European Union and Nato military alliance despite Wednesday’s collapse of Kiev’s pro-western coalition, President Viktor Yushchenko said on Thursday.

In an interview with the Financial Times Mr Yushchenko suggested Russia had helped to fuel the political crisis. Asked whether he had evidence to back the claim, he said his one-time ally Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko had held talks with “forces abroad”. “This not a purely Ukrainian product,” he said, referring to the coalition split.