Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stated on Monday that he has no illusions about yesterday's presidential election in Ukraine, stressing that the country's new head of state will stick to the rhetoric used during the campaign which is based on "famous ideological formulas targeting different social groups." However, Medvedev noted there is still a chance to improve relations between the two neighboring countries through an honest and pragmatic approach that takes into account political realities in Ukraine.
In a Facebook post, Medvedev said that the election of comedian Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured) shows that the Ukrainian voters want a different approach to solving the country's problems. He went on to wish Kiev's new leadership "sanity" and a better understanding of the value of relations between Russians and Ukrainians.
In the second round of Ukrainian presidential election held yesterday, Zelensky defeated incumbent Petro Poroshenko by winning more than 70% of the votes. Predominantly Russian-speaking parts of Ukraine heavily preferred Zelensky, who won in all regions of the country. Poroshenko had the best results in the Western part of the country, where he took 43.6% of the votes.
