LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave a highly public show of support for Volodymyr Zelenskyy Saturday night, a day after the Ukrainian president was berated in the Oval Office by Donald Trump.
Starmer greeted Zelenskyy — in town for a meeting of European leaders on Sunday — on the steps of No. 10 Downing Street in London, walked towards him and immediately threw his arm around him.
Inside No. 10, Starmer told Zelenskyy he has “full backing across the United Kingdom” — and that both the British government and the British people stand with Ukraine “for as long as it may take.”
The effusive praise for Zelenskyy — who will meet King Charles III Sunday — comes after an extraordinary public row between the Ukrainian leader, U.S. President Trump and his U.S. Vice President JD Vance. The two American leaders subjected Zelenskyy to a tirade of withering abuse in the Oval Office, cutting short a visit that had ostensibly been about signing a minerals deal between Ukraine and the U.S. as Trump’s administration deals directly with Russia to end the war.
Unlike some European leaders, Starmer has studiously avoided publicly criticizing the Oval Office scenes. But he spoke to both Zelenskyy and Trump Friday night, and, in their meeting Saturday, Starmer sat beside the Ukrainian leader in a scene that echoed the framing of the meeting with Trump.
As Zelenskyy arrived in Downing Street, a group of pro-Ukrainian demonstrators gathered outside the gates of the famous political street, cheering Zelenskyy’s convoy as he arrived.
Referring to that praise once inside, Starmer told Zelenskyy in front of the television cameras: “I hope you heard some of that cheering in the street.
“That is the people of the United Kingdom coming out to demonstrate how much they support you and how much they support Ukraine, and our absolute determination to stand with you, unwavering determination, to achieve what we both want to achieve, which is a lasting peace, a lasting peace for Ukraine, based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine,” Starmer said.
Zelenskky said he was “very happy” to be meeting King Charles III on Sunday, was pleased that Ukraine had “strategic partners” like the U.K., and he referred to a 100-year partnership signed between the two countries earlier this year aimed at signaling London’s commitment to Kyiv.
Starmer’s summit Sunday will focus on the frantic European efforts to give any future Ukraine peace deal teeth, a daunting prospect as the United States appears to drastically pull away its decades-long role in European security.
The British prime minister has been among those pushing Washington for concrete security guarantees in a bid to deter further aggression by Russian President Vladimir Putin in the event of a peace deal.
But a good-natured trip to Washington by Starmer just days ago — in which the U.K. leader offered Trump his own state visit hosted by the king and was lavished with praise by the U.S. president — did not produce concrete results on Ukraine, and was followed by the extraordinary clash between Trump and Zelenskyy less than 24 hours later.
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