Keir Starmer was careful in his Commons statement about Ukraine to distance himself from what happened in the Oval Office on Friday, while also insisting that Britain needs to maintain a strong relationship with the US. He told MPs that Friday’s public spat between Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump and JD Vance was ‘something nobody in this house wants to see’, but added: ‘I do want to be crystal clear, we must strengthen our relationship with America – for our security, for our technology, for our trade and investment’. He also repeatedly disagreed with any MP who suggested drawing back from the relationship with Trump. Later in the session, he said very directly to Nigel Farage that the Commons needed to be clear that Zelensky was a ‘hero’ and that there should be no ‘fawning to Putin’.
Starmer was keen to pitch himself as the figure leading the international effort to secure a lasting peace in Ukraine, but he was notably restrained in praising himself for that.
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