Exit polls in Ukraine indicate a confectionery-maker, Petro Poroshenko, has won an outright victory in Ukraine's presidential election. Mr Poroshenko won more than half the poll.
Mr Poroshenko, 48, a businessman known as the "chocolate king", won more 55.9% of the vote in the Sunday's first round, exit polls suggest.
The BBC reports he promised to forge closer links with the EU and restore peace in restive eastern regions.
Pro-Russian separatists severely disrupted voting in the east with no polling stations open in Donetsk city, and throughout the Donetsk region just seven of 12 district electoral commissions were operating.
Ukrainian officials say turnout was high in the rest of the country.
Mr Poroshenko said he would never recognise Russia's "occupation of Crimea", annexed by Moscow in March and said the "sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Ukraine mattered most to him.
Ukrainian presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko and his wife Marina cast their votes at a polling station in Kiev. Photo: AFP
Sunday's presidential election was called after President Viktor Yanukovych was deposed in February, amid mass protests against his pro-Russian policies.
On Friday Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would respect the outcome and was prepared to work with whomever was elected president.
Kiev and the West accuse Russia of stoking separatist sentiment - a claim President Putin denies.
Separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk declared independence after referendums on 11 May, a move not recognised by Kiev or its Western allies.
Eighteen candidates were competing in the presidential election, seen as a crucial to unite the country.
The exit polls suggest ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko came a distant second, If the polls are confirmed, there will be no need for a run-off vote next month.
