Merkel: Ukraine vote gives leader Zelensky ‘strong mandate’

Angela Merkel’s office says the German chancellor has called Ukraine’s president-elect to congratulate him, saying the vote gives him “a strong mandate.”

Merkel speaks with Volodymyr Zelensky as election officials say the former TV comedian received 73 percent of the vote in Sunday’s runoff against incumbent Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

Merkel’s office says she invited Zelensky to visit Germany, while he thanked her for supporting Ukraine and expressed an interest in continuing four-way talks with Russia and France on resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Merkel’s office says Germany will “actively support Ukraine on its path of reform and in its right to sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The statement makes no mention of Merkel’s recent meeting with Poroshenko — widely seen as supporting his candidacy — before Sunday’s vote.

— AP