Ukraine was also at the polls over the weekend and Petro Poroshenko has come out on top with over 50% of votes. The “Chocolate King” as he is known, on account of owning Ukraine’s biggest confectionery company, beat a former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko hands down.
Poroshenko is said to be very pro-European and while that was partly to blame for the demise of previous PM’s the row with Russia may push them closer to European integration.
He’s already been on the wires this morning saying while he will seek to start a dialogue with Russia he’ll also be seeking Crimea compensation from them and will be looking to seek damages in international courts and human rights courts. He has also given his backing to the continuation of Ukraine’s anti-terror operation and wants it to be more effective. Speaking from his campaign HQ he said:
“Today we can definitely say all of Ukraine has voted, this is a national vote. The first steps that we will take at beginning of presidential office should be focused on stopping the war, to put an end to this chaos and bring peace to a united Ukraine.”
As expected there was trouble in separatist areas with pro-Russian supporters closing down or not allowing voting stations to open. However, people with Ukrainian papers were allowed to travel to polling stations in other areas to vote.
Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, has also commented on the Ukraine result reiterating Putins vow to respect the will of the Ukrainian people and that the key to resolving the crisis is dialogue and compromise between Kiev and the other regions. He did warn the leadership not to step up the “special operation” against the rebellion in the East.
It’s hard to gauge the market reaction today but with some sort of government forming in Ukraine it could calm things down a bit.
