Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko acknowledged defeat in the April 21 presidential election just minutes after voting ended in Ukraine and exit polls were released predicting a landslide victory for his opponent, comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Poroshenko took to the stage at his headquarters at Mystetsky Arsenal several minutes after 8 p.m. — the official end of voting in the election’s second round. The exit polls, released a few minutes earlier, showed that Zelenskiy would take 73.2 percent of the vote, while Poroshenko would receive only 25.3 percent.
Poroshenko said that the results were clear and that he was planning on calling his opponent to congratulate him. He said that the elections were fair and, thus, “a victory for Ukraine.”
“I’m leaving office next month, but I will not leave politics,” Poroshenko said. “I will be fighting for Ukraine.”
Poroshenko didn’t specify in what capacity he would stay in politics. However, some expect him to lead his party in the parliamentary election scheduled for October. That party, the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko, currently has the largest faction in parliament, holding 135 out of 423 seats, and leads the ruling coalition.
Poroshenko began his concession speech with a quote from Winston Churchill.
“Never give in — never, never, never, never,” Poroshenko said, receiving a standing ovation. “Like we didn’t give up in 2014, when we received a country robbed by (ex-President Viktor Yanukovych).”
Yanukovych was ousted in the 2014 EuroMaidan Revolution, which would eventually lead to Poroshenko’s election to the presidency.
Poroshenko said he is ready to help Zelenskiy with Ukraine’s European integration, but made it clear that they will not be allies. “The newly elected president will have a strong opposition,” he said.
Poroshenko’s supporters interrupted his speech multiple times with cheers and chants of “thank you.” Some people cried.
“These next few days will be hard for me,” admitted Poroshenko.
The speech ended with Poroshenko, his family, and the attendees singing the national anthem of Ukraine.
Poroshenko then shouted the traditional greeting popularized during the revolution, “Glory to Ukraine,” and left the stage to resounding applause.
