Starmer Backs Zelenskyy After Trump Dubbed Ukraine’s President ‘A Dictator’

Keir Starmer has called Volodymyr Zelenskyy to reaffirm his support for “Ukraine’s democratically elected leader” after Donald Trump called him a “dictator”.

According to No.10, the British prime minister told Ukraine’s president it is “perfectly reasonable to suspend elections during wartime, as the UK did during World War II”.

Ukraine postponed its 2024 presidential elections due to the ongoing pressures from Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

The call followed multiple outbursts from Trump where he falsely blamed Kyiv for starting the war against Russia and attacked the Ukrainian president.

The US president also alleged that Zelenskyy’s approval rating was just 4%. In reality it is above 50%.

Trump wrote on Truth Social: “A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.”

The American’s language was even tougher in that social media post than it had been less than 24 hours before, when he falsely claimed Ukraine was responsible for starting the war.

That allegation led to Zelenskyy telling Trump he is in a Russia-created “misinformation space”.

While speaking to the Ukrainian president tonight, Starmer also “stressed the need for everyone to work together” and “reiterated his support for the US-led efforts to get a lasting peace that deterred Russia from any future aggression”.

The Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch voiced her support for the Ukrainian president on X this evening, writing: “President Zelenskyy is not a dictator. He is the democratically elected leader of Ukraine who bravely stood up to Putin’s illegal invasion.”

Similarly, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey wrote on the social media platform: “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.”

The prime minister is flying off to Washington DC next week to meet Trump and discuss efforts to end the war in Ukraine.