British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and expressed his support for him, stressing that he is a democratically elected leader after US President Donald Trump called him a "dictator", reported Agence France-Presse and Reuters, quoted by BTA.
The Labour leader is expected to travel to Washington next week for talks with Donald Trump. He intends to play the role of a mediator between the Americans and the Europeans on Ukraine at the height of tensions that have raised fears of a US-Ukrainian rift, AFP notes.
The statement did not directly mention the US president's latest outburst, in which he described his Ukrainian counterpart as a "dictator ruling without elections". Starmer, for his part, "said it was entirely reasonable to suspend elections during wartime, as the UK did during World War II," a Downing Street spokesman said in a statement.
Although the Ukrainian president's term was due to expire in May 2024, Ukraine has not held elections due to the war and martial law, while millions of Ukrainians have fled abroad and 20% of the country is under Russian occupation.
Starmer also "reaffirmed his support for US-led efforts to achieve a lasting peace in Ukraine that would deter Russia from further aggression," the statement said.