Free speech champion JD Vance warned Volodymyr Zelensky against “badmouthing” Donald Trump who has branded him a “dictator”.
The US Vice President, who lectured European leaders at the Munich Security Conference, on the need for free speech, with flawed claims, stressed that publicly denouncing Trump is an “atrocious way to deal with this administration”.
Sir Keir Starmer backed Mr Zelensky as the democratically-elected leader of Ukraine after Trump’s “dictator” outburst and him claiming that Ukraine started Vladimir Putin’s three-year war.
Ukraine’s president also argued that the US president was living in a “disinformation space”, being fed bogus information by the Kremlin propaganda machine.
But Mr Vance told the Daily Mail: “The idea that Zelensky is going to change the president’s mind by badmouthing him in public media ... everyone who knows the president will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration.”
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz also said Ukraine needs to rein in criticism of the United States, which he insisted is trying to secure a peace deal acceptable to all sides, amid fears that it may favour Russia.
"They need to tone it down and take a hard look and sign that deal," Mr Waltz told Fox News, referring to claims that Kyiv has agreed to hand the US rights to $500 billion of Ukraine’s minerals.
Less than a month into his presidency, Trump has torn up the previous US policy on Ukraine, ending a campaign to isolate Russia and appeared to be planning to carve up the wartorn country, with signals that his administration has already decided annexed Crimea should stay in Russian hands.
He stunned European capitals with a phone call with Putin and moves to end the war, with Ukraine and Europe having little say in the outcome, according to US actions so far.
After talks in Saudi Arabia between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, Trump wrote on social media: “A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” Trump wrote on social media, using an alternate spelling for the Ukrainian president’s name.
In response, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said no one could force his country to give in.
“We will defend our right to exist,” Sybiha said on X.
Later in the day while speaking to investors and executives in Miami, Trump doubled down on his comments, again calling Mr Zelensky a “dictator” and suggesting the Ukrainian president wanted to prolong the war to “keep the gravy train going,” a reference to US military aid.
Sir Keir spoke to Mr Zelensky on Wednesday evening.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister expressed his support for President Zelenskyy 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.”
In return, Mr Zelensky said his country would “never forget the respect the British people have shown for Ukraine and our citizens”.
Earlier, the Ukrainian leader said Trump’s assertion that his approval rating was just 4% was Russian disinformation and that any attempt to replace him would fail.
“We have evidence that these figures are being discussed between America and Russia. That is, President Trump ... unfortunately lives in this disinformation space,” Mr Zelensky told Ukrainian TV.
The latest poll from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, from early February, found 57% of Ukrainians trust Mr Zelensky.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said it was “false and dangerous” for Trump to call Mr Zelensky a dictator.
Britain and France could lead a peace-keeping force of around 30,000 troops in Ukraine if the war ends, with overwhelming air power including from the US acting as a “backstop” against future Russian aggression.
