Petro Poroshenko

The new president of Ukraine, Volodomir Zelensky, has confirmed a commitment to open a school with advanced study of the Bulgarian language, Deputy Prime Minister Mariana Nikolova said during a regular government meeting, Focus News Agency reports.

The prime minister of the provisional Pristina institutions has become the butt of the joke online thanks to a tweet he posted on April 20, ahead of the second round of the Ukrainian presidential election.

Presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky (centre) after the announcement of an exit poll on Sunday. Photo: EPA/Tatyana Zenkovich.

Expatriate Ukrainians in Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Romania, Croatia and Montenegro mostly voted on Sunday for a second presidential term for Petro Poroshenko, who was defeated in a landslide by comedian and TV star Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukrainian comedy actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy won the presidential election with a crushing lead before the current head of state Petro Poroshenko. This indicates the first predictions of a exit poll announced after the end of the vote.

However, according to Sputnik, Zelensky, who has not even yet taken office, has already "fired" shots across Russia's bow by saying his first task as the new president of Ukraine would be to secure the release of military prisoners who have been in Russian custody after the Kerch Strait incident last year.

Responding to the leading candidate, Volodimir Zelensky, Peskov said that Russia did not occupy any part of the Ukrainian territory.

The reason given were "groundless attacks without precedent by Italy."

Ansa is quoting a French Foreign Ministry press releases that said there had been "outrageous statements" by the Italian government.

"Disagreeing is one thing, exploiting relations for electoral ends is another," the ministry added.

In that city he attended the presentation of projects supporting Serbia's development through the program "Norway for You."

The goal of the project is to contribute to a balanced socio-economic development in Serbia through increasing employment opportunities, especially of vulnerable and marginalized groups in 91 local self-governments.

According to the Ukrainian news agency Unian, Poroshenko also said that Russia tried to prevent the entry of North Macedonia into NATO.

The newly elected head of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church has officially assumed office in the capital of Kiev, a month after the church severed its centuries-long ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.