Early returns show Poroshenko winning Ukraine vote
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Early returns Monday suggested candy tycoon Petro Poroshenko was elected president of Ukraine in the first round of balloting. In taking on the leadership of the bitterly divided country, he vowed to “put an end to war, chaos, crime, and bring peace to the Ukrainian land.”
The 48-year-old billionaire, who claimed victory after exit polls showed him with a commanding lead in Sunday’s vote, supports strong ties with Europe but also wants to mend ties with Russia.
He said his first steps as president would be to visit the Donbass eastern industrial region, where pro-Russia separatists have seized government buildings and battled government troops in weeks of fighting. Poroshenko also said the Kyiv government would like to negotiate a new security treaty with Moscow.
The rebels had vowed to block the voting in the east, and less than 20 percent of the polling stations were open there after gunmen intimidated local residents by smashing ballot boxes, shutting down polling centers and issuing threats.
But nationwide, about 60 percent of 35.5 million eligible voters turned out, the central elections commission said, and long lines snaked around polling stations in the capital, Kyiv.
With votes from about 40 percent of precincts counted early Monday, Poroshenko was leading with 54 percent in the field of 21 candidates. Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was running a distant second with 13 percent.
Both results were in line with the exit polls, which showed Poroshenko with nearly 56 percent and Tymoshenko with 13 percent. If that margin holds, Poroshenko would avoid a runoff election next month with the second-place finisher.
Speaking after the polls closed, Poroshenko also promised a dialogue with residents of eastern Ukraine and to guarantee their rights, including the right to speak Russian. He also said he was ready to extend amnesty to those who haven’t taken up weapons.
“For those who are killing the people, they are terrorists, and no country in the world has any negotiations with terrorists,” Poroshenko said, speaking in English.
The election, which came three months after pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych was chased from office by crowds following months of street protests and allegations of corruption, was seen as a critical step toward resolving Ukraine’s protracted crisis.
Since his ouster, Russia has annexed the Crimea in southern Ukraine, the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk have declared their independence from Kyiv, and the interim Ukrainian government has launched an offensive in the east to quash an uprising that has left dozens dead.
Poroshenko ducked the question whether he was prepared to work with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but said meetings with Russia should be held as soon as possible.
“And I think that Russia is our neighbor. And without Russia it would be much less effective or almost impossible to speak about the security in the whole region or maybe about the global security,” Poroshenko said.
Putin has promised to “respect the choice of the Ukrainian people” in the election and said he would work with the winner, in an apparent bid to ease Russia’s worst crisis with the West since the Cold War and avoid a new round of Western sanctions. The interim Kyiv government and the West have accused Russia of backing the separatist uprising. Moscow has denied the accusations.