Ukraine's parliament has just approved the formation of a new government that includes foreign technocrats in key financial roles.

The new Cabinet has come together as government troops and Russian-backed separatist forces agreed on a tentative cease-fire in the war-stricken region along the Russian border.

According to a Reuters piece, the incoming government received 229 votes, which was three more than the minimum of 226 required for approval. The vote was marred by some last-minute controversy, however, when a group of deputies demanded that the ministers be approved on an individual basis. After hours of debate, the Cabinet was finally approved in the proposed form.

With the backing of parliament now secured, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, 40, will continue in a position he has occupied since February.

Five political blocs, including Yatsenyuk's Popular Front party, formed a parliamentary coalition last month that vowed to enact an agenda of drastic economic and political reform.

Yatsenyuk conceded that the Ukraine was exhausted and drained by a combination of war, Russian military aggression, and political conflict.

"The country needs radical changes and reforms," Yatsenyuk told parliament before the Cabinet vote, according to an AP article.

The Prime Minister asserts that some of the tasks to be completed by the incoming government before year ends include bringing in laws to give more budget-raising powers to local authorities and reducing the number of taxes.

New Cabinet ministers include several figures who received Ukrainian citizenship by presidential decree, including Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko, an American with experience working for the U.S. State Department.

Many of the ministers in the Cabinet will retain their posts, including the foreign, defense and interior ministers.

President Petro Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk have both said that they eventually want to see Ukraine join the European Union and NATO, as the plans for the incoming government are to root out corruption and re-orient the Ukraine toward Europe.