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Ukrainian president undergoes alcohol, drug tests

elensky, the second presidential candidate to enter a runoff, gave blood for testing earlier on Friday

© Mikhail Palinchak/Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS

KIEV, April 5. /TASS/. Ukraine’s incumbent President Pyotr Poroshenko, seeking a second term in office, has given blood for drug and alcohol tests in a laboratory at Kiev’s Olympiysky Stadium on Friday.

Before the procedure, which was broadcast live on YouTube, the president signed documents confirming he was giving blood voluntarily and had no objections to the tests’ results being made public.

"Everything was very easy," Poroshenko said afterwards.

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Ukraine’s Poroshenko agrees with Zelensky’s proposal for alcohol, drug tests

While talking to reporters later, the Ukrainian president said he was satisfied with the fact that Vladimir Zelensky had accepted his invitation to a debate. "This is not a show, it is an opportunity to get information and answers to questions about the country’s future in years and decades to come," Poroshenko said.

Zelensky, the second presidential candidate to enter a runoff, gave blood for testing at a private clinic in Kiev earlier on Friday. He told reporters the results would be made public in three days.

The Ukrainian presidential election was held on March 31. With 100% of the vote counted, leader of the Servant of the People political party Vladimir Zelensky is in the lead with 30.24% of the vote, followed by incumbent President Pyotr Poroshenko, who garnered 15.95%. Since none of the candidates managed to get more than 50% of the vote, the top two are headed towards the runoff scheduled to take place on April 21.

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