Johnson addressed Russia’s accusations about disrupting the peace in 2022.
Boris Johnson. / © Associated Press
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson dismissed as nonsense Russia’s claims that he persuaded President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to abandon peace talks with Moscow in 2022.
The former premier made these remarks in an interview with the School of War Podcast.
“That is complete and utter nonsense. There was no European leader, no Western leader, who could have stopped the Ukrainians from fighting for their country,” Johnson stated.
The former British Prime Minister elaborated on the key message he intended to convey to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people during his visit to Kyiv in April 2022.
According to him, after the successful expulsion of Russian forces from the Kyiv region, he aimed to assure Ukraine of Great Britain’s unwavering support. He noted that London maintains the same stance to this day.
“I couldn’t be more Ukrainian than the Ukrainians themselves. But if you wanted to keep fighting, we would be alongside you,” Johnson recalled.
Concurrently, Johnson pointed out that at the onset of the full-scale invasion, not all European politicians believed in Ukraine’s capacity to resist Russia. As an example, he cited a representative from the German Chancellor’s office who believed that if Ukraine’s defeat seemed inevitable, it would be better for the war to conclude as swiftly as possible.
“I thought that was profoundly misguided, and I thought we should help the Ukrainians resist. They wanted to resist, they wanted to fight, and they wanted to defend their country,” Johnson said.
It is worth noting that earlier, Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev circulated a post claiming that Johnson had “sabotaged” the unsuccessful peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul in March 2022.
As a reminder, the British Ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, stated that Ukraine must continue to actively develop its own defense industrial complex to strengthen its position on the battlefield and ultimately compel Russia, led by Volodymyr Putin, to come to the negotiating table.
According to her, the conflict has transformed into a confrontation between two military-industrial complexes, making it crucial for Ukraine to maintain the pace of defense production development and continue applying pressure on Russia.
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