Tymoshenko doesn’t give up, EU congratulates, Zhirinovsky solaces

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said on Monday evening that she doesn’t recognize Viktor Yanukovich’s victory in Ukraine's presidential elections.

The results were unclear and plagued with irregularities, said Yulia Tymoshenko. She declared that any celebration of victory would be counted as a further form of electoral fraud. "It is too soon to draw any conclusions," she said.

Yulia Tymoshenko is reported to set a task for her lawyers to prepare to appeal against elections’ results. She said one of the possible ways of development was the third round of voting to be held.

Meanwhile the EU foreign affairs chief, Catherine Ashton, said the EU was prepared to work with the newly-elected president.
"The European Union remains committed to deepening the relationship with Ukraine and supporting it in implementing its reform agenda.

"It looks forward to working with the new president to this end," she said.

Leader of Russia’s Liberal Democratic Party, Russian State Duma Vice-Speaker, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, in his part congratulated Victor Yanukovich on his victory, and sent a ‘letter with consolations’ to Yulia Tymoshenko.

“I’d like to whish you a stout-heartedness and courage. All the failures can be turned into the good of the political career, if only you don’t get rattled which is uncalled for the politics and which will be certainly called ‘hysteria and lack of balance’,” said Vladimir Zhirinovsky in his message to Yulia Tymoshenko.

It’s worth mentioning, that according to reports by the Central Elections Commission, with more than 99% of votes counted, Victor Yanukovich was estimated to be ahead on some 48.83% of the vote, while Mrs Tymoshenko had around 45.59%.