A former minister in Ukraine’s government has humiliated Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer after insisting that “Boris [Johnson] was much better”.
Dmytro Kuleba, a key figure of Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s full-scale invasion, believes that Starmer has abandoned British leadership on Ukraine since coming to power, according to The Times.
He said his only “unpleasant” conversation with British officials came shortly before his resignation in September with Kyiv becoming increasingly frustrated with Starmer Government over military aid.
The frustration stemmed from the UK government’s apparent hesitation regarding the provision of additional long-range missiles.
Starmer has not visited Ukraine since taking office in July, something Kyiv reportedly sees as symbolic of broader indecision over military support.
In comparison Boris Johnson was the first Western leader to address Ukraine’s parliament after the invasion and in 2023 he was given a hero’s welcome upon his return to the country.
While there, he vowed to do “whatever I can” to help the nation defeat Russia.
At the time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky released a message on Telegram that said: “Many days of this war have proved that Great Britain’s support for Ukraine is firm and resolute.
“Glad to see our country’s great friend Boris Johnson in Kyiv again.”
And just weeks after becoming Prime Minister Rishi Sunak travelled to Ukraine to meet President Zelensky and “confirm continued UK support.”
“Boris Johnson set the threshold high. 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. To a large extent that was the case — except the story with the Storm Shadows”, said Kuleba.
He added: “The only unpleasant conversation I had with British officials a couple of weeks before my resignation — and it was the first unpleasant conversation since the beginning of the full-scale invasion — was about the delivery of Storm Shadows and permissions to use them against certain targets. . . Maybe the reason was the new government was cautious and they didn’t want to rush with decisions.”
After intense lobbying from Kyiv outgoing US President Joe Biden rocked Moscow, by giving President Zelensky the green light to use long-range American-made missiles in Russia.
The move was seen as an effort by Biden and his allies to strengthen Ukraine’s position prior to likely peace talks next year.
This intensified calls on Starmer to allow Ukrainian forces to use British-made missiles to strike targets deep inside Russia.
And last month Ukraine used the British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles to hit targets within Russia for the first time, however Starmer has not officially confirmed the UK is supplying the long-distance weapons, manufactured in this country by MBDA.
Kuleba said the delay of vital weapons from the UK felt as if Labour was just “following the Americans” whereas the Conservatives would “not restrict themselves” to just abiding by their allies.
He said: “The Conservatives were coordinating with the Americans but they did not restrict themselves to just following the Americans.
“This is the change that came with Labour. They took a position they would follow the Americans.”
