KIEV, May 26 (RIA Novosti) – Petro Poroshenko, who is leading the presidential election results in Ukraine, told journalists Friday that he hopes to meet with Russian leaders in early June to discuss the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.
“Russia is our biggest neighbor and taking into account that we have to stop the war and bring peace to Ukraine and stability to the eastern part of the country, it is impossible to do without Russian officials, without meeting with the Russian leadership in the first half of June,” Poroshenko said.
According to the presidential hopeful, the meeting, its agenda and necessary documents, should be thoroughly planned.
“It is not just to shake hands and leave. We are well-acquainted with Mr. Putin and expect serious results from this meeting,” Poroshenko added.
He added that he hopes Russia will support his plan to stabilize the situation in eastern regions of Ukraine.
“I hope the Russian position will support my approach to resolve the situation in the east,” Poroshenko said.
The politician said that his first act as president would be to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine, bring peace to the region and create more jobs in Donbas so that unemployment would not push people into participating in street protests.
An early presidential election in Ukraine was held Sunday amid a large-scale military operation launched by the new authorities in Kiev to crack down on protesters refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the government. According to the Central Election Commission, billionaire Petro Poroshenko leads in the race, taking nearly 54 percent of the vote with over 60 percent of ballots counted.
