The race for the presidency will feature the current head of state, Maia Sandu, and former attorney general Alexander Stoianoglo.
After processing more than 98% of the protocols, it became clear that neither candidate had secured the necessary number of votes to win in the first round. Sandu leads with 42.07% support from voters, which is equivalent to 640,881 votes, while Stoianoglo received 26.27% or 400,208 votes. Despite a substantial gap of 240,673 votes, this is not enough for Sandu to claim outright victory, as more than 50% of the votes were required to advance from the first round.
Renato Usatyi, leader of the "Our Party," came in third with 13.72% of the votes (209,011 voters). All other candidates lagged significantly behind the leaders, which also eliminates them from the ongoing race.
Recall that negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are possible — the NATO Secretary General revealed when they will take place.