Comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy wins Ukraine presidency by a landslide

Zelenskiy beat incumbent President Petro Poroshenko with 73% of the votes.“There is still a chance for Ukraine to improve its relations with Russia”, Russian Prime Minister, Dimity Medvedev said.

Evangelical Focus

23 APRIL 2019 · 18:55 CET

Zelenskiy wins 73% of the vote, beating incumbent President Petro Poroshenko. / Kyiv Post.,
Zelenskiy wins 73% of the vote, beating incumbent President Petro Poroshenko. / Kyiv Post.

Comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy won Ukraine's presidential election by a substantial margin on Sunday April, 21.

The polls showed Zelenskiy winning 73% of the vote, beating incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, who has been in power for five years.

 

“ALL CITIZENS OF POST-SOVIET COUNTRIES LOOK AT US”

“We have accomplished this together”, Zelenskiy said in a speech after the results. He added: “All citizens of the post-Soviet countries, look at us! Everything is possible”.

Meanwhile, Poroshenko quickly conceded defeat and congratulated Zelenskiy on his landslide victory. He pointed out that the results were “clear" and a reason to “call my opponent and congratulate him”.

“I will leave office but I want to firmly stress, I will not quit politics”, he said.

In the first round of voting three weeks ago, Zelensky beat a field of 40 other candidates, winning almost double the number of votes that Poroshenko received.

By securing the presidential office Zelensky’s political party ‘Servant of the People’, gets a head start in the upcoming parliamentary election, scheduled for October.

 

MEDVEDEV: “THERE IS STILL A CHANCE FOR UKRAINE TO IMPROVE ITS RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet made an official statement, but Dmitry Medvedev the Prime Minister said the result shows voters are “eager for new approaches".

There is still a chance for Ukraine to improve its relations with Russia. What will it take? Honesty, as well as a pragmatic and responsible approach with due account for all the current political realities in Ukraine, primarily in the east of the country”, Medvedev added.

According to the Russian Prime Minister, “the main thing we can wish the new Ukrainian leadership is common sense, as well as to understand the inherent value of relations between the peoples of our countries that transcend all momentary political considerations”.

“Exit polls show the citizens of Ukraine voted for change. The new leadership now must understand and realize the hopes of its electors. This of course applies to domestic as well as foreign affairs”, Russian Foreign Ministry said.

 

EU AND NATO REACTIONS

The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, congratulated Zelenskiy on his victory. “The EU is determined to continue its support”, he wrote on Twitter.

“Ukraine is a valued #NATO partner and we look forward to continuing our cooperation”, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg also tweeted.

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