Former Ukrainian foreign minister calls on UK to lead instead of just following US

Dmytro Kuleba, former Ukrainian Foreign Minister, has said that UK Prime Minister Starmer has reduced the UK's support for Ukraine.

As reported by The Times, Kuleba, who stepped down in September, said that Labour was "following" the US rather than being bold in its support for Kyiv.

"The Conservatives were coordinating with the Americans but they did not restrict themselves to just following the Americans," he said.

"This is the change that came with Labour. They took a position [that] they would follow the Americans," Kuleba said.

He further noted that former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had "set the threshold high" regarding support.

"Rishi Sunak had no other choice but to meet the threshold and push it further. When the Labour government came into office, we received rock-solid assurances things would continue as they were," Kuleba stressed.

"To a large extent that was the case – except the story with the Storm Shadows," he explained, adding that London had long refused to authorise Ukraine to use UK-supplied missiles to strike targets inside Russian territory.

Starmer allowed Ukraine to use UK-supplied missiles deep within Russian territory only after Joe Biden approved the use of American-supplied missiles.

"The only unpleasant conversation I had with British officials a couple of weeks before my resignation... was about the delivery of Storm Shadows and permissions to use them against certain targets," Kuleba said.

"Maybe the reason was the new government was cautious and they didn't want to rush with decisions," he added.

Earlier, the Guardian reported that Kyiv believes that relations with London have deteriorated after the Labour government led by Keir Starmer came to power in July 2024.

On 21 November, Andrei Kelin, Russia's ambassador to the UK, accused London of "directly participating" in Russia's war against Ukraine on Kyiv's side but failed to provide any evidence.

Kelin's claims came in the wake of reports that Ukraine had used UK-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles to strike Russian territory.