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Moscow will judge new Ukrainian president by his actions, Kremlin says

The Kremlin believes that speaking about Putin sending his congratulations to Zelensky is premature

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

MOSCOW, April 22. /TASS/. Moscow will judge the new Ukrainian president by his actions, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

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"It will only be possible to judge [him] by his actions," Peskov pointed out.

Russia respects the choice made by Ukrainian citizens who supported the country’s new president, but recalls that there were problems with the legitimacy of this process, the Kremlin spokesman said.

"Moscow respects the choice of Ukrainian people, moreover that this choice is rather obvious," Peskov said. "At the same time, the legitimacy of this election in general was put into question when three million Ukrainian citizens, who live in Russia, were denied the right to vote," he noted.

The Kremlin also believes that speaking about Russian President Vladimir Putin sending his congratulations to Vladimir Zelensky, as well as their cooperation is premature.

"It is too early to talk about President Putin’s offering his congratulations to Zelensky, as well as speaking about the possibilities of working together," he pointed out.

Ukraine’s presidential runoff took place on April 21. With 99% of the vote counted, leader of the Servant of the People political party Vladimir Zelensky has received 73.21%, while incumbent President Pyotr Poroshenko gained 24.46%. The presidential inauguration is expected to take place no later than May 31.

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