US election: Sir Keir Starmer joins world leaders in congratulating Donald Trump on victory – as Volodymyr Zelenskyy hails ‘strong’ US

Sir Keir Starmer has joined world leaders in congratulating Donald Trump after he declared victory in the US presidential election.

The UK prime minister said he looks forward to working with President Trump in the years ahead and says the relationship between the UK and US will “continue to prosper”.

“As the closest of allies, we stand shoulder to shoulder in defence of our shared values of freedom, democracy and enterprise,” he added.

Elsewhere, Ukraine’s President Volodomyr Zelenskyy said he looked forward to “an era of a strong United States of America under President Trump’s decisive leadership”.

There had been questions about whether the US would continue supporting Ukraine, after former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said a Trump win would probably be bad news for the country which was invaded by Russia in 2022.

But Zelenskyy said in a meeting Trump in September that they “discussed in detail the Ukraine-US strategic partnership, the Victory Plan, and ways to put an end to Russian aggression against Ukraine”.

He’s been joined in congratulating Trump by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, France’s President Emmanuel Macron and Hungary’s Viktor Orban.

Asked during the election campaign how he would support Israel in its war against Hamas if re-elected, Trump said: “Nobody’s done what I’ve done for Israel”.

Netanyahu dubbed Trump’s win “history’s greatest comeback” which offered “a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America”.

Hamas says Trump’s victory “puts him to the test” on his claims he could stop the war within hours.

President Macron said he was “ready to work together” with the US president, while Trump ally Orban called it a “much needed victory for the world”.

During his first term in office, President Trump threatened to withdraw from the NATO alliance.

Its secretary general Mark Rutte said his leadership would be “key to keeping our alliance strong”.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen “warmly” congratulated President Trump and said the European Union and the US were “more than just allies”.

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