British Prime Minister Keir Starmer offered support to Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call soon after US President Donald Trump dubbed the Ukrainian President a “dictator”, remarks which followed other criticisms of his handling of the conflict with Russia.
"The Prime Minister (Starmer) expressed his support for President Zelensky as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader and said that it was perfectly reasonable to suspend elections during war time as the UK did during World War II,” said a Downing Street readout of the call on Wednesday night.
Zelensky's five-year term in office concluded in May last year, but elections have remained suspended under the martial law declared amid the country's ongoing conflict with Russia.
“The Prime Minister reiterated his support for the US-led efforts to get a lasting peace in Ukraine that deterred Russia from any future aggression,” Downing Street said.
It comes ahead of Starmer's planned visit to Washington for talks with Trump in the coming days. The Russia-Ukraine conflict is expected to feature heavily on the agenda of their bilateral talks, with Starmer having stressed the “need for everyone to work together” during his call with ally Zelensky.
"UK's support matters indeed, and we will never forget the respect the British people have shown for Ukraine and our citizens," said the Ukrainian President following the conversation.
The UK is also said to be working on hosting a Ukraine summit involving European Union (EU) leaders following Starmer’s US visit, as Europe comes to terms with the new geopolitical dynamic taking shape with the second Trump presidency.
Starmer has said the UK is “ready and willing” to put troops on the ground in Ukraine in pursuit of a peace deal with Russia amid what he believes is a “generational challenge” to the security of the country and the European continent. According to officials in the know, the number of land troops involved in any proposed peacekeeping force would be under 30,000, with the aim of providing reassurance to the Ukrainians.
There is cross-party agreement against Russian President Vladimir Putin in the UK, with Opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch taking to social media to describe Zelensky as "the democratically elected leader of Ukraine who bravely stood up to Putin's illegal invasion".
However, Badenoch said Trump was "right that Europe needs to pull its weight" and called on Starmer to "get on a plane to Washington and show some leadership".
Trump's sharp criticism of Zelensky came in the wake of the Ukrainian leader accusing the US President of living in a "bubble" of Russian disinformation. Ukraine is fearful of being sidelined by the growing proximity between the White House and Kremlin following a US-Russia meeting in Saudi Arabia to negotiate an end to hostilities.
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