UK stands in solidarity with Zelensky after Trump calls for a new Ukrainian president

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting also condemned the bombing of a Saudi Arabian airport, but ruled out having the UK participate in any offensive operations.

He made the comments while being interviewed by BBC Sundays with Laura Kuenssberg, saying the UK now has a responsibility to repair relations between Washington and Kyiv.

Over the weekend the US and Russia signed a deal to suspend sanctions on Russian diesel exports until April, something Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev described as “iconic and historic”.

Global fuel supplies have been severely limited in recent months because of the war in Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as Russia and Ukraine intensifying their strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure.

President Zelensky has since confirmed Ukraine backs an energy ceasefire announced by President Trump on Sunday.

Subscribe to The Steamie morning politics newsletter

Mr Trump told reporters that President Zelensky “wants to make problems for the world” by continuing to authorise attacks on Russian refineries, and said: “He’d better damn well stop.”

He then suggested Ukraine “get a new leader who can make a deal”. Ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the country has been under martial law, meaning elections are suspended.

When asked if he supports Mr Zelensky as Ukrainian president, Mr Streeting said: “Yes - the choice as to who leads Ukraine is for the Ukrainians.

“At the heart of this war is the fundamental principle of self-determination, freedom and democracy and we are in no doubt that the aggressor here is Vladimir Putin.

“He’s the person who chose to start this war and he is the person who could end this war tomorrow, and he chooses not to.

“We stand with Ukraine and we stand with Volodymyr Zelensky.

“This is not the first time we’ve seen a public disagreement between Washington and Kyiv, and we see it as our responsibility to bring our friends together again, and that’s what [Prime Minister] Andy Burnham will be doing.”

He added the UK is trying to “maximise pressure on Russia economically” and will continue to support Ukraine’s military efforts.

The defence secretary also acknowledged the war in Ukraine is having an impact on the cost-of-living crisis, but said there needs to be “strong western unity in support of Ukraine” and no “weakness of western resolve”.

He added: “I certainly want to see the cost of fuel coming down, but we have to see the toll this war is taking on innocent lives.

“The longer the war goes on, the more lives it will cost.

“We need to maximise the pressure on Russia, and that’s the leadership we will get from Andy Burnham and the rest of the government.”

Later on Sunday President Zelensky indicated he is open to holding a fresh election in exchange for a 60-day “total ceasefire”. He also said Ukraine would halt attacks on Russian refineries if Moscow ended its strikes on energy infrastructure.

Posting on X, he said: “We are awaiting details from the American side. For our part, Ukraine always FULLY supports steps towards de-escalation, the protection of lives, and the decisions needed to end the war and guarantee lasting peace.”

He added: “It is important that Russia supports it as well.”

Meanwhile overnight 12 people were killed and more than 300 were injured after an attack on the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This is the deadliest single attack on a Gulf Arab country since the war between Israel, the US and Iran began in February.

A second attack was reported on Sunday, with the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen announcing that an unknown projectile had struck the Riyadh airport again. It is understood the “unknown projectile” hit passenger hall number four and caused a fire.

Yemen’s Houthis have now warned aviation firms and passengers against using Saudi airports and airspace.

A Saudi-led military coalition has blamed this on Yemen’s Houthis and has vowed to respond to the attack. While the Houthis have not directly referred to Saturday’s attack, the Iran-backed group has said it was behind separate strikes on the same airport on Thursday.

The group’s military spokesman Yahya Saree said Saudi airports “are potential targets and sites for operations by our forces” and is urging “everyone to take our warnings seriously”. He added that Mecca and Medina are exempted from this.

Mr Streeting said: “We are already supporting Saudi Arabia with air-to-air refuelling support and I have spoken to my Saudi counterpart on a number of occasions in recent weeks to look at more we can do to support Saudi Arabia.

“Last night shows why we are providing that support.

“Even in the context of the Houthi attacks, an attack on an airport is shocking with hundreds of casualties. An attack on a civilian target cannot be justified in any circumstances.”

When asked if the UK is looking at any offensive operations in response to this, Mr Streeting said: “That’s not what we are looking at. We’ve always been clear there is not a military solution to this conflict.

“There was a truce, we need to see a diplomatic solution, and Saudi needs to do that from a point of strength.

“Providing air-to-air refuelling and ground-based support is having a positive impact, but there is more to do after the events of last night, which should be condemned worldwide.”