Kremlin Welcomes Bulgaria, Moldova Election Winners' Calls for Cooperation

Moscow welcomes calls for closer cooperation with Russia made by the winners of presidential elections in Bulgaria and Moldova, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Addressing the pro-Russian stances of both Dodon and Radev, Peskov stressed that their positions appeal to Moscow.

"Of course, we were impressed by some of the statements, which shows the willingness to work on normalizing relations with other countries, including our own," the Kremlin spokesman said.

"The Kremlin, of course, respects the choice both of the Moldovan people and of the Bulgarian people. We certainly congratulate the candidates who won," Peskov told reporters.

Peskov added that Russia considered Bulgaria to be a very important country for bilateral cooperation and regretted cancellation of many joint projects.

"We are studying many giant economic projects with the Bulgarian side. Many projects have been cancelled over obvious reasons, which cause deep regret. We hope that new projects will be launched. Russia has always advocated the idea to expand volumes of cooperation, including with Bulgaria," Peskov said.

Moldova's Socialist Party front-runner Igor Dodon announced his second-round victory earlier in the day. Moldova's Central Election Commission places his lead at 52.98 percent with 99.23 percent of the votes counted.

Former Bulgarian Air Force Commander Radev is winning the second round of the presidential election with 59.4 percent of votes, while his opponent Tsetska Tsacheva from the country's ruling GERB party has gained 36.64 percent of votes, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC).