The United States on Tuesday praised the conduct of Ukraine's presidential election as a step forward in the country's democratic development.

"The election provided a choice among candidates in a calm atmosphere followed freely by the media," the U.S. Embassy in Kiev said on its website as the final counting of votes from Sunday's second round continued.

"We welcome the high turnout of voters. The conduct of both the first and second rounds reflects another step in the consolidation of Ukraine's democracy," the embassy said.

With 99.91% of ballots from Sunday's runoff counted, opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych has a 3.47 percentage point lead over Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a populist leader of the 2004 pro-Western "Orange Revolution" protests that overturned his declared victory as fraudulent.

Turnout was nearly 70% in the runoff in the former Soviet state of 46 million, up from about 67% for the January 17 first round.

Foreign monitors said the election was free and fair, but Tymoshenko was reported to have said she will "never" accept Yanukovych's victory.

Current President Viktor Yushchenko, who came to power on the wave of the "Orange Revolution," was eliminated in the first round.

Ukraine has been plagued by fractious internal political battles and faces major economic problems.

MOSCOW, February 9 (RIA Novosti)