Kremlin Hopes New Ukrainian President To Have Different Stand On Relations With Russia

Kremlin hopes that the new president of Ukraine will not be linked to the "party of war" and will be able to take a different stand on the bilateral relations with Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th April, 2019) Kremlin hopes that the new president of Ukraine will not be linked to the "party of war" and will be able to take a different stand on the bilateral relations with Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

The first round of the Ukrainian presidential election was held on March 31 and resulted in none of the candidates gaining the absolute majority needed to win the race. A runoff between the leaders of the first round � incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelenskiy � is scheduled for Sunday.

"One always wants to hope for the best. Of course, we want to hope that the person who will be elected as the president of Ukraine will not be a member of the "party of war" and that this person will reject any force-based methods of settlement in [the Ukrainian breakaway region of] Donbas. We also want to hope that this person will have a different stand on the prospects of Russian-Ukrainian relations," Peskov told reporters, when asked about Russia's expectations considering the possible presidency of Zelenskiy, who led in the first round.

Peskov rejected to answer if the Kremlin believed that better Russian-Ukrainian relations could be in place under Zelenskiy's presidency than under Poroshenko's.

Peskov also said that no candidate had provided a "clear explanation" of his vision of future relations between Ukraine and Russia.

"We should note that none of the candidates has provided a clear concept of the prospects of Minsk agreements, Donbas, self-proclaimed republics [Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics] and relations with Moscow," he said.

He added that Ukraine needed no "deals" with Moscow or Russian President Vladimir Putin, while trust-based friendly relations should be developed.

This came as a comment on a recent statement by the chairman of the political council of Ukrainian party Opposition Platform � For Life, Viktor Medvedchuk, that Zelenskiy should strike a "deal" with Russia for the sake of Donbas settlement.

Meanwhile, Peskov praised Medvedchuk's efforts toward settlement of humanitarian problems in the Russian-Ukrainian relations.

Peskov added that it was currently unknown if Putin would watch the debate between Poroshenko and Zelenskiy, which could take place ahead of the runoff.

"Anyway, we will try to record it and to pass to the president, perhaps, he will have some free time over the weekend and will be able to watch it," Peskov told reporters.