Moment Starmer is left squirming as Zelensky asks PM ‘you’re alone?’ after he arrives without delegation for meeting in Armenia
This is the awkward moment Sir Keir Starmer was left squirming after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky asked him if he was alone as he arrived to a meeting without the rest of his delegation.
The two world leaders met on Sunday in Armenia ahead of Monday’s European Political Community (EPC) summit.
In a small conference room in Yerevan, the country’s capital, the pair engaged in strained chit-chat as they waited for the rest of the UK’s delegation to the meeting to arrive.
After they exchanged pleasantries, Zelensky asked the British leader: ‘You’re alone?’
After Sir Keir, who was shaking hands with other Ukrainian officials, did not answer, a woman off-camera explained that the rest of the British team would be arriving shortly.
Sir Keir then began asking about Zelensky’s travel plans to Armenia, to which Zelensky said he had travelled straight from Ukraine, adding: ‘Straight from Ukraine, it means through Poland.’
An excruciating silence was broken by Zelensky stating he had taken a train, which he described as ‘long, but comfortable’.
Sir Keir, scrambling for words, said: ‘Very good… I like it because when I first came to Ukraine, I flew in and out – obviously before the conflict. But if you get the train, you get to see how big the country is.’
Keir Starmer (pictured, right) and Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured, left) has an excruciating interaction in Armenia on Sunday
The two world leaders met on Sunday in Armenia ahead of Monday’s European Political Community (EPC) summit
Sir Keir’s words were then followed by another awkward silence, which was ended by the arrival of the rest of his team.
Zelensky later thanked King Charles for his ‘strong words’ on the defence of Ukraine during his state visit to the United States.
‘Best regards and thanks to His Majesty for strong words in the United States supporting our people,’ Zelensky told Sir Keir.
Charles, in a speech to Congress last week, spoke of the importance of NATO and support for Kyiv, amid concerns over Donald Trump’s waning interest in the conflict.
The King’s address has been widely interpreted as a gentle pushback against some of the US president’s peeves, including Ukraine, from which his attention has been diverted by the Iran war.
In their meeting, Zelensky also thanked Sir Keir for the UK’s sanctions against Russia and efforts to counter its shadow fleet, saying the measures set a ‘great example’ for other allies.
‘I think that Russia’s economy feels it,’ Ukraine’s leader said.
Sir Keir in March announced that Britain’s commandos would be able to board and halt Moscow’s shadow fleet vessels as they ferried oil to support its war in Ukraine through UK waters.
The Prime Minister landed in Armenia on Sunday afternoon, and is expected to hold more meetings with European counterparts in the margins of the EPC summit.
He is expected to continue his push for closer ties with the European Union on defence, security and the economy, as part of his reset with Brussels.
He was accompanied to Yerevan by EU relations minister Nick Thomas-Symonds and national security adviser Jonathan Powell.
Support for Kyiv and the fallout from the Iran war will be high on the agenda at the event.
The EPC was formed in 2022 after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
