The UK pushed back against the description of Vladimir Putin as a “humanitarian” given by US President Donald Trump’s Ukraine war envoy, saying it rejected that characterization of the Russian leader.

Steve Witkoff issued the praise for Putin as he welcomed the release from prison of a US teacher who had been detained in Russia. “You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian,” Witkoff told Putin. “You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that. I commend you.”

“We certainly do not recognize that characterization,” UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s spokeswoman, Cat Simmons, told reporters on Thursday when asked about Witkoff’s remarks. “President Putin has killed thousands of people, both innocent Ukrainians and his own Russian people, who he has sent to their deaths on the front line. He is starving children and the elderly of heat and warmth, and systematically targeting critical national infrastructure.”The remarks emphasize growing tensions within the so-called special relationship between the US and UK, in particular over Russia’s war in Ukraine.

After Trump waived tariffs linked to Russian energy exports, Britain’s health secretary, Yvette Cooper, a former foreign secretary, said at the weekend that the UK takes a “different view” from the US. Last week, Burnham welcomed his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to Downing Street to offer Britain’s support after what he called “very dark and difficult days” during which Trump had sealed a deal for Russia to supply diesel to the global market.

Simmons sidestepped a question about whether the UK government sees Trump as a humanitarian, saying: “We fully support President Trump’s efforts to secure a lost and lasting peace in Ukraine.”