Pro-Western parties will dominate Ukraine’s parliament after an election handed President Petro Poroshenko a mandate to end a separatist conflict and steer the country further out of Russia’s orbit into Europe’s mainstream.
Poroshenko held preliminary power-sharing talks with Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk on Monday after their political groups led other pro-Western forces committed to democratic reforms in sweeping pro-Russian forces out of parliament.
“The main task is to quickly form a pro-European coalition for carrying out agreements with the EU,” Yatseniuk said at a meeting with election observers.
International observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe gave a further lift to the pro-Western Kiev leadership, saying Sunday’s election had “largely upheld democratic commitments” despite the conflict in the east.
It was “an amply contested election that offered voters real choice and (had) a general respect for fundamental freedoms,” Kent Harstedt, OSCE special coordinator, told a news conference.
Despite a dire result for parties sympathetic to Russia, Moscow was not immediately confrontational. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he thought Russia would recognize the election.
