The Latest: France, Germany congratulate Ukraine winner

The Latest on the results of Ukraines presidential vote in which TV actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy won in a landslide (all times local):

12:20 p.m.

France and Germany, which have led diplomatic efforts to defuse the conflict in eastern Ukraine, are congratulating Volodymyr Zelenskiy on being elected as president.

They are underlining their support for reform and their commitment to Ukraines territorial integrity.

French President Emmanuel Macrons office said Monday that he spoke with Zelenskiy and restated his readiness to work alongside Germany in the so-called Normandy format, which also involves Ukraine and Russia, to help resolve the conflict between Kiev and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Germany and France brokered a 2015 peace accord with Ukraine and Russia to stop the fighting, but the deal is far from implemented. There has been no recent summit between the four countries leaders.

In a separate message to Zelenskiy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed her interest in stabilizing Ukraine and a peaceful resolution to the conflict, along with reforms to the judicial system, decentralization of Ukraine and fighting corruption.

12 noon

The European Union is congratulating Volodymyr Zelenskiy on his election as Ukrainian president, pledging strong support for his plans to reform the country and fight corruption.

In a joint letter to Zelenskiy on Monday, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council chief Donald Tusk said the political novice can count on the EUs continued and steadfast support of Ukraines sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.

Juncker and Tusk wrote that you can count on the EUs strong support to Ukraines reform path, including consolidating the rule of law, fighting corruption, maintaining macro-financial stability and pursuing the essential reform of the energy sector. And they said that further implementation of a Ukraine-EU association agreement could be a crucial instrument in achieving that.

Zelenskiy, a TV actor, trounced incumbent Petro Poroshenko in Sundays election.

11:30 p.m.

Even with a landslide win in Ukraines presidential election to give him a powerful mandate for change, TV actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy has daunting challenges ahead.

The simmering, deadly conflict in eastern Ukraine and the conundrum over Russias 2014 annexation of Crimea are likely to dominate the agenda of the man who up until now has only played the president in a TV sitcom. Zelenskiy, a Russian speaker from central Ukraine has promised to step up efforts to re-integrate the east back into Ukraines fold but has offered no details on how he is going to do that.

A political novice, 41-year-old Zelenskiy will also have to face off against Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has ruled his country for nearly two decades, if he wants to mend relations with Ukraines neighbor.

10:30 a.m.

With nearly all the votes counted in Ukraine, TV star Volodymyr Zelenskiy is projected to win the countrys presidential runoff vote in a landslide.

The Central Election Commission says Monday that Zelenskiy has won 73 of the vote while the incumbent President Petro Poroshenko got just 24 support with more than 96 of the ballots counted.

Unlike in most of the elections in Ukraines post-Soviet history, Zelenskiy appears to have won both in Ukraines west and east, areas that have been traditionally polarized. One of the campaign slogans of the popular television comedian who has no previous political experience was to unify Ukraine, which has been torn by bitter debates over its identity as well as the separatist conflict in the east that is fueled by neighboring Russia.

Categories: World News

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