Sir Keir Starmer has come out in support of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky after Donald Trump labelled him a "dictator".
The US president made the comment in reference to the fact Ukraine has not held an election while the war with Russia has been ongoing.
But Prime Minister Starmer, in a telephone call with Zelensky, reassured him it was "perfectly reasonable" for the country to "suspend elections during wartime as the UK did during World War Two", the BBC reports.
Zelensky's five-year term was due to come to an end last May, but elections have been suspended while martial law was declared following Russia's invasion.
Trump also claimed Zelensky's popularity in Ukraine had plummeted, and that he had only a 4% approval rating, but BBC Verify reports polling last month showed 57% of Ukrainians trusted the president.
Starmer is due to travel to Washington DC next week for his first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump.