UK ‘steadfast’ in backing Ukraine amid ‘growing fatigue’ over war, Johnson says

The Prime Minister told Cabinet any concessions to Russian president Vladimir Putin would be a ‘disaster’.

21 June 2022

Boris Johnson promised the UK would be “steadfast” in supporting Ukrainians as he warned of “growing fatigue” around the conflict and said any concessions to Russian president Vladimir Putin would be a “disaster”.

The Prime Minister vowed to ensure “fresh political, military and financial support from the international community” to the war-torn country, his official spokesman said on Tuesday.

“The Prime Minister’s concern is that it may not be at the forefront of everyone’s minds, because of … some of those wider global challenges we’re facing, not least on inflation around the world,” according to the official.

Mr Johnson told Cabinet that “we must not allow anyone to believe that making concessions to Putin would lead to anything but disaster”, as this could be “perceived to be a reward for their unwarranted aggression” and “would embolden not just Russia but their allies and have an impact on UK security and on our economy,” the spokesperson said.

It comes after the Prime Minister made an unannounced trip to Kyiv for talks with Volodymyr Zelensky, when he told the Ukrainian president that Britain would be prepared to train tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops as they continue to fight back against the Russian offensive in the Donbas.

He said it was important to prevent the Russians “freezing” the conflict so they could consolidate their gains before mounting another attack.

Ukrainians should be supported in their ambition to regain territory occupied by the Russian forces since they invaded in February, Mr Johnson said, but stopped short of calling for the recovery of all the lands Ukraine had lost since 2014 – including Crimea.

The Prime Minister said Ukraine should not be encouraged to accept a “bad peace” which would simply be the prelude to a renewed Russian offensive.

At the Cabinet meeting, Mr Johnson also said Britain would work to “drain the grain from Ukraine” as “the bombardment of cities and infrastructure and the blockade of ports is crippling Ukraine’s ability to export its produce”.