KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th April, 2019) Debates between incumbent Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and his rival presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy failed to take place at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev after the latter did not show up, insisting the debates should take place on April 19.
Zelenskiy, the leader of the first round of the Ukrainian presidential election, said last week that he accepted Poroshenko's call to hold a debate ahead of the April 21 runoff, where they would face each other. Poroshenko intended to hold debates with Zelenskiy on April 14 at the Olympic Stadium and invited viewers and media to the venue. Zelensky, in turn, said that he was going to debate with Poroshenko on April 19. Earlier on Sunday, Poroshenko arrived at the stadium and announced that he was ready to wait for Zelenskiy to debate until 15:00 p.m. (12:00 p.m. GMT).
"I am begging you not to lose interest, we will make several proposals to organize this debate," Poroshenko said after a debates moderator announced that the time was over.
The first round of the Ukrainian presidential election was held on March 31 and resulted in none of the candidates gaining the absolute majority needed to win the race. Zelenskiy led with 30.24 percent of the vote, while Poroshenko came second with 15.95 percent and will, therefore, confront Zelenskiy in the runoff.
