Boris Johnson, fresh from his surprise visit to Ukraine, has urged western leaders to “steel” themselves for a long conflict in Ukraine.
In an article for The Sunday Times, the UK Prime Minister also outlined his recommendations for "constant funding and technical help" to the Kiev regime that should be maintained for "years to come".
“Time is now the vital factor. Everything will depend on whether Ukraine can strengthen its ability to defend its soil faster than Russia can renew its capacity to attack. Our task is to enlist time on Ukraine’s side,” wrote the PM after his Friday meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Johnson may be battling domestic issues, such as inflation at a 40-year high, rocketing fuel prices, and his leadership in doubt over fall-out from “partygate”, but when it comes to the Ukraine crisis, he appears to have a plan on the ready.
He laid out a four-point plan in his article, which he claimed would “recruit time to Ukraine’s cause”.
“First, we must ensure that Ukraine receives weapons, equipment, ammunition and training more rapidly than the invader, and build up its capacity to use our help,” wrote Johnson.
He touted yet again the training plan he had offered the Ukrainian president on Friday.
Johnson’s proposed three-week training programme for Ukrainian forces had the potential “to train up to 10,000 soldiers every 120 days", the PM's office said in a statement earlier, adding that the new operation will take forces out of the country to train them. It will accelerate deployment and boost the resistance of the Ukrainian troops, the statement said. In addition, Ukrainian soldiers will learn medical training, cyber-security, and counter-explosive tactics. Furthermore, international partners would be invited to host the programme should the offer be accepted by Ukraine, the statement read.
Second, Johnson said, “we must help to preserve the viability of the Ukrainian state”.
According to him, this required "constant funding and technical help”. At this point Johnson referred to the role of the European Union and visits by the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Romania to Kiev on Thursday. After their trip, the European Commission backed Ukraine's bid to join the EU .
Johnson's third point is to develop “alternative overland routes” to ensure that Ukraine’s economy “continues to function despite the Russian blockade of its principal export routes across the Black Sea”.
Finally, the UK PM emphasised the need for additional resources dedicated to getting food such as “corn and wheat piled up in silos across Ukraine” out of the country.
“Ukraine’s ports are vital to global food supplies and we will keep supplying the weapons needed to protect them,” wrote Johnson.
The British politician conceded that none of these steps “will yield immediate results”.
“All will require a determined effort by the UK and our allies, lasting for months and years,” he added.
The British PM weighed in on the concerns increasingly displayed by some members of the international coalition propping up the Kiev regime about the impact of a protracted Ukraine conflict on their own economies. Johnson called on them not to be fickle and ensure that Kiev forces are boosted to an extent that they have the “strategic endurance to survive and eventually prevail”.
Economic concerns should not lead to a rushed settlement in Ukraine, he warned his western allies.
Allowing Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine to succeed would be “a travesty”, said Johnson, and “the greatest victory for aggression in Europe since the Second World War”.
Such comparisons made by the British premier are astounding given the fact that Russia launched the special operation to demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine on 24 February after the Donbass republics - Donetsk and Lugansk - asked for assistance having endured an eight-year bombardment by Ukrainian troops that amounted to genocide.
Moscow from the outset emphasised that said that the aim of its operation was to target military infrastructure exclusively. However, the Kremlin’s arguments fell on deaf ears, as the US and its allies, besides launching a sweeping sanctions campaign against Russia, have committed billions in military aid for Ukraine in recent months. From the outset, the UK wasted no time in joining the western sanctions regime slapped on Moscow.
However, the sweeping restrictions on Russian businesses and individuals have only served to exacerbate global economic difficulties – something Moscow had repeatedly warned about.
Speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) which has just ended, Russian President Vladimir Putin underscored that the "economic blitzkrieg against Russia had no chance of success," as the “crazy” and “not well-considered" sanctions are a double-edged sword.
Though hoping to crush the Russian economy in one go, instead EU politicians delivered a serious blow to their own economies, triggering soaring inflation, with regular people inevitably shouldering the burden of this “sanctions fever".
As to the weapons with which the US and its allies have been flooding Ukraine, Moscow has repeatedly warned of the dangers of such military assistance which serves to prolong the conflict, and could even risk a direct confrontation with NATO.