(Bloomberg) --
Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko accepted a challenge by comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy to debate him in front of the country's press in a stadium of as many as 70,000 people.
Zelenskiy, who won the first round of presidential elections on Sunday, had been expected to refuse debates before a runoff on April 21. But he released a video invitation Wednesday to the incumbent to go head-to-head in Kiev's Olimpiyskiy stadium. In an apparent reference to social-media allegations that he takes drugs, he insisted both men undergo medical examinations.
Poroshenko, who'd sought debates against a candidate whose lack of political experience he frequently criticizes, said Thursday the event shouldn't become a “show.”
“There's no room for jokes here,” he said. “To be president and commander-in-chief isn't a game.”
Poroshenko pledged to take the health check on Friday morning, and asked his opponent to join him. No date has been set for the actual debate. Voters in Ukraine last saw one before a presidential runoff vote in 2004.
To contact the reporter on this story: Volodymyr Verbyany in Kiev at vverbyany1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net, Andrew Langley, Piotr Bujnicki
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