While Downing Street said Sir Keir had “reiterated his support for the US-led efforts to get a lasting peace in Ukraine” during Wednesday evening’s phone call, Mr Trump’s recent remarks - alongside plans to impose tariffs on UK exports - have put the UK on a collision course with the new US administration.
“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 wartime as the UK did during World War Two.”.
Other UK figures have also hit out at Mr Trump’s comments, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch saying Mr Zelensky was “the democratically elected leader of Ukraine who bravely stood up to Putin’s illegal invasion”.
Sir Keir Starmer has backed Volodymyr Zelensky as “Ukraine’s democratically elected leader” after Donald Trump claimed he was a dictator and called for Ukraine to hold elections.
While Mr Trump said he is “all for” the promise to put British troops in Ukraine, he said the US does not need to deploy peacekeeping troops as “we’re very far away”.
