KIEV: The Ukrainian people will cast their votes on Sunday to elect the country’s president for a five-year term, in a vote that is being seen as the most crucial since Ukraine’s independence in 1991.
In the presidential election, about 36 million Ukrainians are eligible to vote while the wealthy businessman and independent politician Petro Poroshenko is being considered as the favourite. However, according to opinion polls, the presidential election is likely to go to a run-off in June.
If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote on Sunday, a run-off will be held on June 15.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian caretaker president Oleksandr Turchynov has urged all the voters to take part in Sunday’s elections.
On the other hand, the Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged that Russia will respect the results of Ukraine’s presidential election to be held on May 25.
In a statement in Petersburg, Putin said that Russia will work with the new Ukrainian leadership to resolve the crisis in Ukraine.
