Boris Johnson calls for more military aid for Ukraine during Washington visit
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson came to Washington for talks with high-ranking politicians on increasing support for Ukraine and called to provide with all the necessary weapons the Ukrainian troops need, Voice of America reports.
The former British Prime Minister was asked about the situation with F-16 fighters. Johnson supported the provision of all necessary types of weapons to Ukraine.
"All I will say is that every time we say that it'd be a mistake to provide a specific weapon, we end up doing it, and it ends up being the right thing for Ukraine," Johnson stressed.
"I remember being told that giving them anti-tank missiles was a bad idea. In fact, they were indispensable, and the United States — under Donald Trump — also gave them the Javelin. They were indispensable in fighting off russian tanks," the former chief of the British government said.
"They said that HIMARS should not be provided. I remember how we argued about rocket launchers and MLRS. In fact, they turned out to be invaluable to Ukrainians. We said the same thing about tanks," he added.
Johnson believes it is necessary to "save time, save money, save lives and give Ukrainians what they need as soon as possible."
He rejected the idea that russian president vladimir putin might be ready to turn the war into a nuclear conflict.
"He probably won't even stop the Ukrainians if he does that; we'll plunge his economy into such cryogenic paralysis that russia won't be able to come out of it for decades, so he's not going to do it," Johnson said.
Johnson also said he admires what US President Joe Biden's administration is doing, which allocated $23 billion for military aid to Ukraine.
He repeated the call that Ukraine's security should be guaranteed the same way as for NATO countries.
"I used to think that we needed to find a way to ensure the security of Ukraine with equipment, intelligence, and training so that they could never be attacked again.
But you know, now I think that's enough ambiguities. We tried for decades to keep Ukraine out of NATO, which led to the worst war in Europe in 80 years," Johnson said.
As reported, Johnson will meet with US Republican lawmakers during the week to urge them to continue aid to Ukraine.
