UK rejects US naming Putin “humanitarian”

Downing Street has rejected the description of Vladimir Putin as a “humanitarian” made by Donald Trump’s chief negotiator on the Ukraine war.

Steve Witkoff met the Russian president in St. Petersburg on Wednesday as he sought to make a new push to end the invasion of Ukraine, with the US putting pressure on Kyiv to agree to a settlement.

In a Russian state media video clip posted on X, Witkoff told Putin: “You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that. I commend you.”

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “We certainly do not recognize that characterization, and President Putin has killed thousands of people, both innocent Ukrainians and his own Russian people, who he has sent to their deaths on the frontline.

“He is starving children and the elderly of the heat and warmth, and systematically targeting critical national infrastructure. Ukraine’s foreign minister summed it up well this morning when he said: ‘Tonight, the residents of Kyiv heard what Russian humanitarianism really sounds like.’”

Downing Street’s remarks came after Scottish secretary, Douglas Alexander, said that Britain viewed Putin as “somebody who illegally invaded Ukraine at the start of this conflict, who has been responsible for conduct by his government that included attempted assassinations on UK soil”.

Alexander added: “We simply do not recognize the description of Vladimir Putin as a humanitarian.”

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After Witkoff met Putin, Russia agreed to resume peace talks with Ukraine and the US in principle. Trump has suggested Russia and Ukraine are “maybe now the closest we’ve been” to ending the war.

Despite this, Russia has continued to launch missile attacks at Ukraine.