MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Power arrived in Kiev on Wednesday to hold discussions with top Kiev officials and monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on progress in Ukraine's reforms implementation.
"In October 2014, Ukraine held the freest and fairest Rada election in the country's history. This allowed the Ukrainian people to vote into office many new officials, including a number of journalists, human rights defenders and transparency advocates who had played key roles in the Maidan movement. And for now we hope they will drive reform efforts from inside."
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's People's Front party and President Petro Poroshenko's bloc were running neck-and-neck, winning 22.14 percent and 21.82 percent of votes, respectively.
The campaign agenda of the People's Front party focused on the idea of Ukraine's integration into the European Union. In the run-up to the elections, the party also called for economic, fiscal, judicial, and prosecutorial reforms.
Parts of the southeastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Lugansk under control of local militias did not vote.
The representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics said the elections cannot be considered free and fair, as the east of Ukraine was not represented.
The US and EU leaders, however, praised the elections as a "victory of democracy."
