Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has defended his decision to dismiss the country’s popular defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, and confirmed reports that relations had broken down between the ministry and the country’s top army leadership.

Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv with the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, Zelenskyy said there had been a “challenging dialogue” between Fedorov – widely seen as a reformist and moderniser – and the military’s commander in chief, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi.

The growing domestic political crisis overshadowed Starmer’s farewell visit to Kyiv, ahead of his departure on Monday from Downing Street. The two leaders laid wreaths at the Wall of Remembrance before holding one-on-one talks in the garden of the presidential palace, sitting together in a shady corner.

At a joint press conference, Zelenskyy awarded Starmer the Order of Freedom, Ukraine’s highest foreign honour. Starmer, who appeared to be close to tears, gave Zelenskyy a framed Ukrainian flag that had hung above Downing Street in February 2022 as Russian tanks rolled towards Kyiv.