(Reuters) - Ukraine's parliament gave President Petro Poroshenko a strong boost on Thursday by resoundingly endorsing his candidates for three key posts in his new team who will have to tackle a pro-Russian uprising, a near-bankrupt economy and endemic graft.

Poroshenko's nominations for foreign minister, central bank chief and prosecutor-general each won more than two thirds of parliament's votes - an unusual level of support for the president as he takes the helm after the ousting of his Moscow-backed predecessor Viktor Yanukovich in February.

Diplomat Pavlo Klimkin, 47, until now ambassador to Germany, was approved as foreign minister and will be at the forefront of moves to shift Ukraine into the European mainstream as well as dealing with a diplomatic standoff with Russia over Crimea and rebellions by pro-Russian separatists.

A Moscow-educated physicist who joined the foreign service more than 20 years ago, Klimkin is committed to European integration and has played a key role in negotiating the association and free trade agreements with the European Union, which Ukraine is expected to sign later this month.

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