As none of the 39 candidates on the ballot received an absolute majority of the initial vote, a runoff was held on 21 April between the top two vote-getters: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a television personality, and Petro Poroshenko, the incumbent president.

[3] This document was then scrutinized by the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption, which subsequently published the results of the audit.

As a part election coverage, private Ukrainian TV channel ZIK decided to create a series of debates from 19 February until 28 March day every week.

UA:PBC organized a series of debates as a part of political talk show "The Countdown", where they invited 18 top rated candidates according to various polls.

On March 31, after the announcement of the results of the exit polls of the first round of the presidential elections of Ukraine, Poroshenko invited Zelensky to a public open debate.

On April 3, Zelensky put forward a proposal for an exclusive public debate at the stadium, on which Poroshenko agreed.

[139][3] The CEC also closed all five foreign polling stations in Ukrainian embassies and consulates within Russia ahead of the vote.

[144] Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Servant of the People (who received 31% of the vote) and incumbent president Petro Poroshenko (16%) advanced to the second round on 21 April.

"[150] The below table shows each candidate's share of the valid vote, calculated excluding invalid votes using the results provided by the Central Election Commission: Poroshenko tweeted that "a new inexperienced Ukrainian president... could be quickly returned to Russia's orbit of influence.

[151] Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Zelenskyy and thanked the Canadians among the observers overseeing the elections.

[153] The President of the United States, Donald Trump, called the president-elect to congratulate him and "the Ukrainian people for a peaceful [and] democratic election.

"[154] A joint letter of congratulations was issued by both Tusk and Jean Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission.

The European Union (EU) leaders stated that they hoped Zelenskyy's victory would speed up the implementation of the remaining parts of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area.