Ms Badenoch disagreed with President Trump’s assessment of the Ukraine leader (Image: PA, Getty )
has issued a stark six-word rebuttal to Donald Trump after he stunned the international community with a furious attack on Ukranian wartime leader President .
, the US President unleashed a torrent of attacks on Mr Zelensky, branding the democratically elected former comedian a “dictator” who was doing a “terrible job”.
Ms Badenoch responded to the Republican Party leader’s remarks by pointing out “President Zelenskyy is not a dictator”.
The Tory leader followed her remarks on X, posting: “He is the democratically elected leader of who bravely stood up to Putin’s illegal invasion. Under my leadership, and under successive Conservative Prime Ministers, we have and always will stand with .”
Ms Badenoch also ramped up pressure on Sir ‘s Government to increase UK military spending in the face of increasing aggression from ‘s , and with US forces seemingly seeking to withdraw from Europe.
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Kemi Badenoch also said Britain should increase defence spending (Image: PA )
She added: “President Trump is right that Europe needs to pull its weight, and that includes the UK. We need to get serious. The PM will have my support to increase defence spending, there is a fully funded plan to get to 2.5% sitting on his desk.
“That should be the bare minimum. Starmer should get on with it, get on a plane to Washington and show some leadership. We cannot afford to get this wrong.”
The president’s comments about Mr Zelensky drew stronger criticism from Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, who said they “must be where the line is drawn”.
He added: “It is my sincere hope that the whole political spectrum in the United Kingdom will speak with one voice in opposition to Trump’s lies.”
Downing Street has yet to respond to Mr Trump’s post as Sir prepares to meet him in Washington next week. That meeting will see Britain attempt to balance support for with the need to keep the White House onside.
Earlier in the day, however, Defence Secretary John Healey pushed back on a previous claim from Mr Trump that had started the war, telling reporters: “Three years ago, one country illegally invaded another, and since then, the Ukrainians have been fighting for their freedom.
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President Zelensky has been under verbal attack from the US president in recent days (Image: Getty )
“They’ve been fighting for their future, and they still are. So whilst all the focus may be on talks, not even negotiations, our concern as defence ministers is that we’re not jeopardising the peace by forgetting about the war.”
Mr Healey made his comments on a trip to Norway, where he met his Norwegian counterpart Tore Sandvik and urged European allies to put “maximum pressure” on to ensure he would “negotiate seriously”.
Mr Trump’s attack on Mr Zelensky is the latest stage in a war of words between the two men, with the Ukrainian president saying earlier on Wednesday that his American counterpart was living in a “disinformation space”.
That in turn had followed a statement by Mr Trump on Tuesday, in which he said “should never have started” the war and “could have made a deal”.
Mr Trump has also been accused of repeating Russian talking points, incorrectly claiming that Mr Zelensky has an approval rate of 4% and criticising him for not holding elections last year due to the ongoing conflict.