Zelensky ready for talks with Putin, Trump: spokesperson

PanARMENIAN.Net - Leader of the Servant of the People political party Vladimir Zelensky is ready to hold talks with presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Donald Trump of the US if elected Ukraine's president, Zelensky campaign team spokesman Alexander Danilyuk told Ukraine’s ICTV.

"He is definitely ready," he said in response to a question. "I would like to address those who say that Vladimir Zelensky is incompetent: let us have a look at his team and assess its competence, then there will be no more questions," Danilyuk added, according to TASS.

"There is not a single person who would be ready to hold such difficult talks without preparations. If we talk about talks on resolving the situation in eastern Ukraine, there is a need to thoroughly work on any possible initiatives within the Minsk process," the spokesman pointed out.

The first round of the Ukrainian presidential election was held on March 31. With over 95% of ballots counted across the country, Zelensky remains in the lead with 30.22% of the vote, followed by incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, who garnered 15.94%. Leader of the Batkivshchina (or Fatherland) party Yulia Tymoshenko came in third with 13.39%.

Earlier, Ukraine’s Central Election Commission officially declared that neither candidate would be able to win the 50-percent majority of the vote and a runoff election would take place on April 21. So, based on the preliminary data, Zelensky and Poroshenko are headed towards the runoff.