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Presidential candidates' debate in quotes

Presidential candidates' debate in quotes

President Petro Poroshenko and comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyy have held a public debate at Kyiv's Olympic Stadium ahead of the 21 April presidential election runoff.

Below are some of their quotes.

Poroshenko

"I will accept any choice of the Ukrainian people on 21 April. Life will go on the 22nd."

"Millions of Ukrainians will fight for the future of Ukraine, will protect the achievements of the past five years. They will protect the Ukrainian soil… We will not allow anyone to ruin our state which we love above all. You will not succeed, Mr Volodymyr. And I will protect it in any role – as the president or candidate."

"It is the right of the Ukrainian nation to know what exactly a presidential candidate of the country at war is going to do? And what is he going to do, not his HQ, consultants or advisers."

He does not think that Zelenskyy "dreams of surrendering Ukraine to Russia", however Putin has such a dream.

"Your team said that you were already receiving basic military training. This is a good thing. However, you should have started four years ago, in 2014, when the country need volunteers but Volodymyr was dodging summons to a military recruitment office."

Zelenskyy

"Petro Poroshenko has had many achievements: visa-free travel, the tomos, language and army, everything you have mentioned on hoardings. But it seems to me that for some reason you have claimed all these achievements as your own only."

"It seems to me that the Ukrainian language was before you. As for visa-free travel, yes, this is a victory, but it is not only yours. This is a victory of Ukrainian diplomats, the Ukrainian diaspora who fought for visa-free travel even before you became president. As for the tomos, this is a victory for Ukraine, but it seems to me that it was a victory first and foremost for Filaret, who fought for the Ukrainian church before you became president, even when you were a member of the Moscow Patriarchate. And the army is first of all a feat of Ukrainian soldiers, Ukrainian volunteers, the Ukrainian people."

"As for Mr [Ihor] Kolomoyskyy, I will tell you. All the Svynarchuks, Hladkovskyys… and even if Kolomoyskyy is among them will go to prison. But this is not a matter of two weeks. They will be locked up if they violate the law".

"This is not a promise. It is a serious matter. It is a matter for Ukrainian court. They will be locked up when they violate the law."

"I am ready to kneel down in front of every mother whose son never returned from the front line. I kneel down in front of every child whose father did not come home. I am ready to kneel down in front of every woman whose husband did not return home. And I invite you to follow suit."

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