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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has expressed support for Volodymyr Zelensky as a “democratically elected leader” after Donald Trump described the Ukrainian president as a “dictator”.
Sir Keir spoke to Zelensky on the phone on Wednesday evening and said it was “perfectly reasonable” for Ukraine to “suspend elections during war time as the UK did during World War II”, Downing Street said.
The call came after Trump criticised Zelensky, saying he had done a “terrible job” and claiming “he refuses to have elections” in Ukraine as a condition of a deal to end the war.
Zelensky had accused Trump of living in a Russian “disinformation space” after the US president appeared to blame Ukraine for starting the war in the country.
A Downing Street spokesperson said Sir Keir “stressed the need for everyone to work together” in his phone call with the Ukrainian president.
“The prime minister 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,” the spokesperson said.
“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.”
Following the phone call, Zelensky said the UK’s role “in fortifying Europe’s defence and security is important for us”.
The Ukrainian leader said he and Sir Keir discussed “upcoming plans and opportunities”, adding that the “UK’s support matters indeed, and we will never forget the respect the British people have shown for Ukraine and our citizens”.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has also defended the Ukrainian leader.
In a post on X, Badenoch said Zelensky was “the democratically elected leader of Ukraine who bravely stood up to Putin’s illegal invasion”.
But Badenoch said Trump was “right that Europe needs to pull its weight” and called on Sir Keir to “get on a plane to Washington and show some leadership”.
The row between Trump and Zelensky has increased the political jeopardy for Sir Keir, ahead of a high-stakes meeting with the US president next week.
The prime minister will travel to Washington DC for his first in-person meeting with Trump as he seeks to influence the American approach to ending the war in Ukraine.
Sir Keir has said he wants to use his meeting with Trump next week to discuss a “US backstop” that he says is necessary to deter Russia from attacking its neighbour again.
The prime minister has said he would be prepared to deploy British troops to Ukraine to help guarantee its security as part of a peace deal.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Russian ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin said Moscow would not accept troops from the UK or other European nations in Ukraine, even if President Trump approved it.
Kelin also questioned whether there could be a potential peace agreement without fresh elections in Ukraine.
Zelensky won a five-year term in 2019 and has remained in office because elections have been suspended since martial law was declared after Russia’s invasion.
Not sure Ukrainians would choose Zelensky as next leader, says Russian ambassador
Asked if Russia would give back some of the territory it had seized from Ukraine, Kelin said: “Why should we? We have liberated these territories, upon which Russian people are living for centuries.”
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