Can Ukraine's 'chocolate king' win over the east? (Csmonitor)

Inside the flagship candy store owned by Ukraine’s leading presidential candidate, Petro Poroshenko, the smell of chocolate permeates the air as costumed shop assistants offer to help fill customers’ bags with various flavors of sweets. “I’ll go for him at the polls, because he has shown what he can do,” said Kateryna Ponomerenko,

 a retiree who was shopping for miniature chocolates for a gift. “I think we can trust him, even though he’s part of the rich elite.”

According to the latest polls, Ukraine’s "chocolate king," Mr. Poroshenko, has a solid lead in what could be the country’s most important election since the breakup of the Soviet Union. But if he wins, his biggest challenge still lies ahead: winning the hearts and minds of Ukrainians in the country's eastern regions.

US, Britain: Tough Sanctions Against Russia if Ukraine Vote Is Disrupted (Voanews)

LONDON — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary William Hague say the United States and European Union will hit Russia with far tougher economic sanctions if it tries to disrupt next week's presidential election in Ukraine. Kerry and Hague discussed the crisis in Ukraine Thursday in London with foreign ministers from France, Italy, and Germany.

Foreign Secretary Hague says the European Union and United States are preparing broader, sectoral sanctions against Russia if it interferes with May 25 voting to choose a new government in Kyiv.

Vladimir Putin Marks Moscow's 'Victory Day' With Visit to Crimea (Go)

Few people had been treated with such fanfare since the Beatles landed in the United States half a century ago -- until today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was greeted with a welcome fit for a homecoming king when he arrived in Crimea for the first time since Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in March.