Zelensky urges Reform councils to rethink Ukrainian flag removals after Senedd rejected similar calls

Mark Mansfield

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged Reform UK-run councils in England to reconsider decisions to remove Ukrainian flags from civic buildings, weeks after similar calls by Reform politicians in Wales to remove the flag from outside the Senedd were rejected.

The Welsh Parliament recently confirmed there are no plans to change its flag arrangements, meaning the Ukrainian flag will continue to fly outside the Welsh Parliament alongside Welsh and UK flags.

The decision followed calls from Reform UK Wales leader Dan Thomas and party colleague Cai Parry-Jones for the flag to be removed.

Parry-Jones described the display as “virtue signalling”, while Thomas argued that public buildings should only fly UK and local flags.

Their position was rejected by politicians across the political spectrum in Cardiff Bay, with Labour, Plaid Cymru, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats all backing the continued display of the Ukrainian flag as a symbol of solidarity with a country facing Russian aggression.

Now Ukraine’s president has weighed into a wider row after Reform-led councils in England lowered Ukrainian flags that had been flown since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

In an interview with the Guardian during a visit to London, Zelensky said he hoped local authorities would reverse the decisions.

“I hope they will put it back,” he said.

“I don’t want to be involved in any political things, but you know, the world is so sensitive today. Sometimes little, small mistakes can break big friendship or huge contacts.”

The Ukrainian leader added that “people have to not make mistakes” and urged those involved to return to discussions.

The comments come as Reform UK continues to push a policy of restricting the flags flown on public buildings. Party leader Nigel Farage has previously said that under a Reform government “there will be no foreign flags flown above our public buildings”.

In Wales, the Ukrainian flag has flown outside the Senedd since shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

At the time Reform Wales called for its removal, Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar described the flag as “a visible sign of the Senedd’s resolute opposition to Russia’s illegal invasion”.

Plaid Cymru MS Elwyn Vaughan said Wales had “proudly stood with the people of Ukraine”, while Welsh Labour highlighted the thousands of Ukrainians who have settled in Wales through the Nation of Sanctuary scheme.

Ceasefire

In a joint statement issued on Sunday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to “an immediate and complete ceasefire” and condemned ongoing missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian population centres.

Zelensky also used his visit to Britain to emphasise the importance of continued international support for Ukraine, arguing that European security remains directly linked to the outcome of the conflict.

“British people helped us from the very beginning of this war,” he said.

“It’s about security in Europe. It’s in the interests of the UK.”