Keir Starmer Tells Zelensky He Is “Democratically Elected Leader” After Trump Attack
2 min read
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said Volodymyr Zelensky is the democratically elected leader of Ukraine, after President Donald Trump made an attack on him for not holding an election during wartime.
US and Russian officials have begun discussions in Saudi Arabia on ending the war in Ukraine after three years of fighting. European leaders held an emergency summit on Monday in Paris after it emerged that talks in the Middle East would go ahead without representation from Ukraine or Europe.
On Wednesday President Trump in a post on his platform Truth Social appeared to blame Zelensky for continuing the war and called him a "Dictator without Election". The Ukrainian president accused Trump of living in a "disinformation space" created by the Kremlin.
Starmer, who like successive British leaders has backed Ukraine’s military effort, pledged his full support for the nation and called for continued co-operation between Western allies.
“The Prime Minister spoke to President Zelensky this evening and stressed the need for everyone to work together,” he said.
“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 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 is not unusual for nationwide elections to be suspended during times of war. Between 1935-1945 no election was held in the United Kingdom, as the country was at war with Nazi Germany.
Trump claimed Zelensky was deeply unpopular within Ukraine, despite having higher domestic approval ratings than Trump has in the US.
Starmer is due to meet Trump in Washington next week as part of his effort to act as a "bridge" between Europe and the new US administration.
On Wednesday afternoon, Trump posted on social media that Zelensky had "talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn't be won".
"He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden 'like a fiddle'," Trump said.
"A Dictator without Elections, Zelensky better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left."
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has also said Zelensky is "not a dictator", in a response to comments made by the US President.
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