Ukrainians have plumped for political stability and the possibility of peace. They have elected the chocolate baron billionaire Petro Poroshenko as President by an overwhelming majority. He has beaten hollow former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko who faced allegations of corruption. Till recently she was in prison on graft charges. Poroshenko has been harping on peace in the country and opposing an anti-Russia stand which has been convulsing Ukraine. But he has taken the stand that he has no use for the concept of ‘Soviet Union’ mooted by Vladimir Putin. Poroshenko’s image is relatively clean and he commands vast financial resources as well as acceptability. Of course, he has not yet succeeded in digging his heels in Eastern Ukraine which did not participate in the recent Presidential election. The eastern region had held a referendum the other day which was very much in favour of integration with Russia. In Donetsk and Luhansk, the election commission could not function at all. Its officials were abducted and business as usual seemed totally out of the question. Separatist militias stoutly opposed Kiev’s control.
Russia may sometime or other question the validity of the presidential election. But at the moment it is in an agreeable mood. It has pledged to work in cooperation with the newly elected President of Ukraine. But its intentions appear to be suspect. Only recently Moscow had declared the Ukrainian election illegal. The current cooperation seemingly is a step in the right direction. Kiev has however already given a defiant answer to Moscow which claims to be ready for a dialogue. Its military has mounted an offensive in Donetsk. Poroshenko has to decide how much autonomy should be granted to Eastern Ukraine while maintaining favourable relations with the Western powers.
