Latvian officials congratulate new Ukrainian president

RIGA - Latvia's top state officials have congratulated Volodymyr Zelensky in triumphing in the Ukrainian presidential run-off on Sunday.

In hos Twitter account, Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis wrote: ''I congratulate Volodymyr Zelensky on his victory in the presidential elections! Latvia will continue to support a deeper EU-Ukraine dialogue, as well as reforms in the country!''.

Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins also congratulated Zelensky on his victory. ''Latvia is ready to continue its close cooperation with Ukraine and support its territorial integrity and reform process with the aim of facilitating closer European integration''.

Furthermore, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics also congratulated Zelensky, and also said that Latvia will continue to support Ukraine territorial integrity and reform process. He also thanked outgoing President Petro Poroshenko for his efforts in defending Uktraine's territorial integrity and independence during his term in office.

As reported, according to the Central Election Commission of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky received the majority of votes from Ukrainian citizens in Latvia during yesterday's presidential run-off.

A total of 723 votes were cast at the Ukrainian Embassy in Riga, with 445 or 61.6 percent voting for Zelensky, and 268 or 37.1 percent voting for current President Petro Poroshenko.

Ten election tickets were deemed invalid.

A total of 2,387 Ukrainian voters are registered at the embassy in Riga.

According to provisional results from the Ukrainian Election Commission, Zelensky took 73.1 percent of the vote in the presidential run-off on Sunday, while Poroshenko took 24.49 percent.