Russian President Vladimir Putin said he does not rule out the possibility of a meeting and talks with Ukrainian President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky.
“If we meet someday, begin some talks, and I’m not ruling this out, then we must talk how to end the conflict in southeastern Ukraine in the first place,” Putin said at press conference following his visit to China.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Zelensky has already made a statement before the election that he, firstly, is not going to sign a decree on a bill on amnesty and, secondly, [is not going] to grant special status to those territories [certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine],” Putin said.
“Both are the key elements of the content of the Minsk Agreements and how can the issue of the LPR and the DPR be resolved without implementing the Minsk Agreements?” the Russian president said.
“I would gladly ask him these question, discuss these matters with him,” Putin said.
Mentioning that the majority of Ukrainian citizens voted for Zelensky, the Russian president expressed the opinion that “first and foremost, the people expect the future Ukrainian political leadership to resolve these issues.”
“Everyone is fed up with this conflict, everyone is tired of it, and everyone expects this from the new political leadership, including the future president,” Putin said.
“But if from the very threshold, from the start the future president says he is not going to implement the Minsk Agreements, how will he resolve this issue then? I would be glad to discuss that with him, I would like to understand his stance,” the Russian president said.
Ukrainian President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky has gone to Turkey for a brief vacation.
“We have agreed to be open. So, we’re flying to Turkey. I’m taking the kids to the yearly festival Veselo,” Zelensky wrote on his Facebook page.
Zelensky said that it would be his first day off for the past four months, and said he would be returning to Ukraine in a couple of days.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius, who arrived in Kyiv on a visit, met with President-elect of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. “Held very good meeting with Ukraine’s President-elect V. Zelensky in Kyiv: congratulated on his land sliding victory in Presidential elections, reaffirmed Lithuania’s continuous steadfast support to Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, reforms, European & Euro-Atlantic integration,” he wrote on Twitter. He also published a joint photo with Zelensky in the social network.
As reported, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania Linas Linkevicius is on a working visit to Ukraine on April 25-26. The purpose of his visit to Kyiv is to deepen bilateral cooperation in the framework of the Ukrainian-Lithuanian strategic partnership.
President of the European Council Donald Tusk is waiting for the Ukraine-EU summit in July 2019 and talks about this over telephone with the winner of Ukraine’s presidential elections Volodymyr Zelensky. “First, good phone call with Ukraine’s President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky. I assured him of the EU’s steadfast support to Ukraine. Looking forward to our cooperation and EU-Ukraine Summit in July,” he wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.
Tusk also said that he had a telephone conversation with incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, “after 5 years of good cooperation.”
“The competitive, free and fair presidential elections with a peaceful hand over is the best proof of Ukraine’s progress and democracy,” the European Council president noted.
Agribusiness counts on the influence of political authority of newly elected President Volodymyr Zelensky to revitalize the land issue in parliament.
“The land market issue is one of the most exciting. The solution of this issue is largely influenced by the Verkhovna Rada, therefore only political authority can help the guarantor form new rules that have long been in demand by the people,” President of the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) Mykola Horbachev told Interfax-Ukraine.
He added that the new president will have to make significant efforts to shift the issue of opening the land market “to a more civilized plane.”
President of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB), CEO of IMC agricultural holding Alex Lissitsa also singled out the land reform as one of the six main areas that requires changes.
In addition, it is necessary to introduce new labor legislation, conduct education and innovation reform, tax liberalization to remove the economy from the shadow, privatization of state-owned property and state-owned companies, as well as partial privatization of Ukrzaliznytsia by allowing private operators to work, Lissitsa said.
The founder of T.B.Fruit group, Taras Barschovsky, agreed with him. He also hopes to speed up the process of opening the land market with the election of Zelensky as head of state.
At the same time, he noted the need for the development of small agricultural enterprises in horticulture and berry-growing, since “only this can save the Ukrainian village.”
Candidates for the presidency in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky and Petro Poroshenko, have gained 73.17% and 24.5% of the vote, respectively, the country’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has said after it processed 90.1% of the voting protocols. Zelensky is leading in all regions, except Lviv region.
As was reported, Zelensky leads with 73% of the runoff vote, according to the National Exit Poll, while incumbent President Petro Poroshenko is supported by 25.5% of voters. According to the TSN’s exit poll, Zelensky was supported by 72.7% and 27.3% voted for Poroshenko. The exit poll results announced on TV Channel 112.Ukraine says that Zelensky got 73.7% of the vote and Poroshenko had 26.3%.
According to the CEC, the voter turnout on April 21 was 62.07%.
