The British Prime Minister has talked to Volodymyr Zelensky after Donald Trump claimed he was a ‘dictator’ and that Ukraine was to blame for the conflict with Russia
Keir Starmer has hit back at Donald Trump after the US President described Ukraine’s wartime leader Volodymyr Zelensky as a “dictator” in a bizarre rant.
In a call with Ukraine’s President the PM directly contradicted Mr Trump, saying Zelensky was a “democratically elected leader”. A Downing Street spokesman said Mr Starmer had said it was “perfectly reasonable to suspend elections during wartime” as Winston Churchill did during World War II.
They added: “The Prime Minister spoke to President Zelensky this evening and stressed the need for everyone to work together. 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.” It comes as the PM prepares to jet to Washington DC next week for his first face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump since he returned to the Oval Office.
Earlier on Wednesday the US President, who last night blamed Ukraine for Moscow’s invasion, described Zelensky as a “dictator” as relations hit rock bottom. In a rambling statement posted on the Trust Social platform, Mr Trump said: “He [Zelensky]refuses to have elections, is very low in Ukrainian polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden ‘like a fiddle’.”
He added: “A dictator without elections, Zelensky better move fast or he is not going to have a country left.” Tory leader Kemi Badenoch also contradicted the US President on X. She posted: “President Zelensky is not a dictator. He is the democratically elected leader of Ukraine who bravely stood up to Putin’s illegal invasion. Under my leadership, and under successive Conservative Prime Ministers, we have and always will stand with Ukraine.”
But she added that the US President is right that Europe and the UK “needs to pull its weight” and hike defence spending. The Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey also said: “Calling Zelensky a ‘dictator’ must be where the line is drawn. It is my sincere hope that the whole political spectrum in the United Kingdom will speak with one voice in opposition to Trump’s lies.”
