Ukraine condemns Labor for being too slow to help and simply “following the Americans” and being too “cautious” compared to the Conservatives.

A leading Ukrainian politician has criticized the Labor Party for being too slow to help his country and abandoning British leadership in the war effort, as seen under previous governments.

Dmytro Kuleba, kyiv's former foreign minister, said Sir Keir Starmer's administration had broken with previous governments by “just following the Americans”.

“The conservatives were coordinating with the Americans, but they weren’t just following the Americans,” he said. The times.'That's the change that came with the Labor Party. They took a position that they would follow the Americans.

President Zelensky relied on Britain to galvanize Western support for Ukraine, with many countries following London's lead throughout the war, for example with the delivery of tanks and missiles to long range.

But while Boris Johnson was the first Western leader to visit kyiv after Russia's full-scale invasion and Rishi Sunak followed to show the UK's continued support, Starmer did not visit the country, adding to concern in kyiv that its government is less inclined to make diplomatic gambles.

“Boris Johnson has set the threshold high. Rishi Sunakh had no choice but to reach the threshold and push it further,” Kuleba said.

“When the Labor government came to power, we received strong assurance that things would continue as they were. To a large extent, this was the case, except for the Storm Shadows story.

Kuleba, who resigned in September, said he had an “unpleasant conversation” with British officials weeks before his resignation, when there was disagreement over the delivery and use of Storm Shadow missiles on Russian territory .

Paramedics evacuate a woman from the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, December 10, 2024.

Dmytro Kuleba, kyiv's former foreign minister, said he had an “unpleasant conversation” with British officials weeks before his resignation.

Burning buildings are seen at the scene after a Russian drone attack in the Chernihiv region, Ukraine, early Friday, December 13, 2024.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the European Political Community summit in Budapest last month.

“It was the first unpleasant conversation since the full-scale invasion began,” he said. “Maybe the reason was that the new government was cautious and did not want to make hasty decisions.”

The Labor government has given kyiv the green light to use Storm Shadow missiles on Russian territory after US President Joe Biden approved the use of US ATACMS in cross-border strikes.

The move is part of a campaign by Ukraine's supporters to strengthen its position before Donald Trump takes power in the United States.

The president-elect has pledged to “end the war in 24 hours” and is expected toto push for a quick deal to end the fighting when he takes office in January.

That has raised fears in kyiv and Europe that Ukraine could be pushed into making big concessions to Moscow after nearly three years of fighting the Kremlin invasion.

In late November, Trump told Time: “I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing this?

NATO chief Mark Rutte is expected to hold talks with President Zelensky and several European leaders on Wednesday. Discussions are expected to focus on their continued support for Ukraine and the need for additional air defense.

European officials said expected leaders include Sir Keir Starmer as well as his French, German and Polish counterparts.

The meeting comes as Ukraine's European allies have begun discussing the possibility of stationing foreign troops in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia.

Vladimir Putin boasted today that his forces had the initiative on the front line.

The Russian army announced on Monday that it had captured another village in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, where its troops were steadily advancing.

A Ukrainian serviceman from the 24th Brigade fires an RPG during a training exercise in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, December 15.

The Defense Ministry said in a statement that its forces had “liberated” the village of Elyzavetivka, about 10 kilometers south of Kurakhove, a resource-rich town that Russian troops were also trying to capture.

In November, Russia captured an area the size of London while suffering the highest casualty rate of the war.

Equipped with more personnel and weapons, the Russian army will cross the eastern region of Donetsk in 2024.

Russia has also claimed in recent weeks that it has advanced in its western Kursk region, where Ukraine launched a surprise offensive this summer.

Ukraine said Monday its troops had killed or injured at least 30 North Korean soldiers deployed by Russia to fight in Kursk.

“On December 14-15, units of the army of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) suffered significant losses near the villages of Plekhovo, Vorozhba and Martynovka in the Kursk region of Russia – at least 30 soldiers were killed. were killed and injured,” the Ukrainian statement said. » said military intelligence.