Ukraine’s president is beginning coalition talks after what appears to be a victory for pro-Western parties in yesterday’s parliamentary elections.
Early results showed Petro Poroshenko’s bloc and the party of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk each taking 21% of the vote.There was no voting in eastern areas under the control of pro-Russian separatist rebels who plan to hold their own elections next Sunday.
However, a number of seats in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions will remain vacant, as will those for Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in March.
The full party list results expected later today will cover only 225 of the 450 seats.Results for constituencies will not come in for a few days.
Says Poroshenko:
More than three-quarters of voters who took part in the polls gave strong and irreversible backing to Ukraine’s path to Europe
We must create… the best government in Ukraine because no other government will cope with the challenges that the country is facing today
In comments today from Russia the dep foreign min says he sees increased risk of fighting in Eastern Ukraine as a result of the election results while other statements highlight a hope that the result offers a chance to implement peace agreements.
The BBC has more here
Ukraine elections 2014 * Crimeans who have kept their Ukraine citizenship can travel to vote
