Kiev  - Ukraine's embattled government on Thursday survived a parliament motion of no confidence, with the legislative opposition failing to assemble to votes needed to throw out the country's pro- Europe leadership.

A total 203 MPs out of the 450-seat house voted in favour of considering a no confidence motion, almost all from the pro-Russia Regions Ukraine party, or the anti-capitalist Communist Party of Ukraine.

The result was a victory first and foremost for Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who had predicted the no confidence motion would fail to reach the parliament floor, while her enemies had argued the Tymoshenko government was doomed.

Tymoshenko's leadership of Ukraine's government has come under widespread criticism as a result of the former Soviet republic's shrinking economy, and widening budgetary deficits. dpa