Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that proving candidates did not have problems with substance abuse was a "matter of national security".(Photo: AFP)
Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko and comedian Volodymyr Zelensky took drug tests on Friday ahead of their election runoff as the ex-Soviet country's presidential race becomes increasingly sensational.
Zelensky, a 41-year-old actor best known for playing the president in a television show, is favourite to become Ukraine's next leader after he dominated a first-round vote on March 31, despite many dismissing his candidacy as a joke.
The drug and alcohol tests are part of unusual conditions laid down by Zelensky before he would agree to a public debate between Poroshenko in the country's biggest sports stadium.
Despite the flamboyant media spectacle, the stakes are high for the country of 45 million seen as the biggest frontier between the European Union and Russia.
Ukraine is mired in a smouldering war with Moscow-backed separatists in the industrial east, a conflict that has claimed 13,000 lives.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet Poroshenko in Berlin next week, her spokesman said Friday, declining to be drawn on whether Merkel would also meet Zelensky ahead of the April 21 runoff vote.
Spokesman Steffen Seibert dismissed suggestions the visit represents interference in the hotly contested election.
Zelensky won more than 30 percent of the first-round vote, while Poroshenko garnered almost 16 percent.
Poroshenko is eager to make up lost ground before the run-off vote by showing off his experience and oratory.
He invited his political novice rival to spar in the election debate, but the comedian countered with an array of conditions, including the medical tests and that the meeting be held in Kiev's Olympic Stadium, which seats over 70,000 people.
'New traditions'
Poroshenko, 53, chose to play along, presenting himself to medics at a lab at the Olympic Stadium on Friday.
He rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt and had his blood drawn in a video broadcast live on his Facebook page.
"We are creating new traditions," a smiling Poroshenko said.
Doctors said they had also taken urine and hair samples.
Poroshenko said proving that candidates do not have problems with substance abuse was a "matter of national security".
Volodymyr Yaryi, one of the doctors present, said the first results were negative.
Zelensky chose to undergo tests at a private clinic controlled by one of his supporters, rejecting Poroshenko's offer to take the tests together.
"I had my blood drawn, they drained me of all my blood. There's a lot of it, my young blood," he said in an apparent jab at his older rival.
By law, televised election debates are to be held on the last Friday before the second-round runoff, which would be April 19.
But it remains unclear if Zelensky is ready to go head-to-head with the Ukrainian president.
"Do not be afraid, a debate is not scary," Poroshenko said, taunting his rival in a new video address.
Poroshenko also slammed Zelensky's suggestion to invite his rival, former prime minister Yuliya Tymoshenko, who came third in the first round, to moderate the planned debate.
"This is disrespect towards the 2.5 million people who voted for her," he said.
'Morphing into absurdity'
Ukraine -- which boasts a vibrant, if messy, democracy -- is no stranger to political spectacle including fist fights in parliament.
But many fear that the current presidential race might be too much.
"Ukraine's trademark chaos and spectacle are morphing into absurdity and mockery," wrote Ukraine's permanent representative to the Council of Europe, Dmytro Kuleba.
"I am afraid our democracy is too weak for this."
Anti-corruption activist Vitaliy Shabunin said the vote rivals dedicated the first week after the first round to "tests and video clips, not programmes and promises".
Zelensky has shunned traditional rallies, instead performing satirical shows and capitalising on frustration over corruption and economic trouble.
Critics argue his programme is vague and doubt his ability to lead the crisis-wracked country.
Poroshenko backers credit him with binding Ukraine to the West, rebuilding the nation's army and securing an Orthodox Church independent of Russia.