Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Putin does not yet believe or is not yet convinced that the West considers it an extremely important strategic goal for Ukraine to become a free and independent European country.
Points of attention
- Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson criticized the West for its lack of resolve in supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression.
- Johnson emphasized the importance of demonstrating clear support for Ukraine to deter further actions by Putin.
- The slow and ambiguous response of the Western allies in providing assistance to Ukraine was deemed inadequate by Johnson and Admiral Tony Radakin.
Our problem is a fundamental lack of resolve to support Ukraine — Johnson
He said this in an interview with the BBC along with former Chief of the British Defence Staff, Admiral Tony Radakin.
And when asked whether the UK and Western allies allowed Putin to invade without taking his aggression seriously enough, Johnson replied:
I think so. The inaction in Crimea was tragic.
Johnson and Radakin recalled the moment Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and agreed that Western allies were too slow and cautious in providing support to Ukraine.
Radakin described the Allied actions at the time as “gradual” and said that Ukraine found them “too slow and deeply disappointing — this tension existed all along.”
Johnson said that such caution cost lives.
We have always procrastinated unnecessarily. As a result, we have given the Ukrainians what they asked for, and in fact it has always been to their advantage and to Putin's disadvantage. I mean, the only person who suffers from escalation is Putin.
Boris Johnson
British politician
He continued that the “general ambiguity of the West’s position” had hurt Ukraine, adding:
If we had a clear and simple position on Ukraine, instead of endless evasions and ambiguity, we could have saved the situation, we could have prevented this invasion.
According to him, Putin was encouraged by the West's failure to punish Bashar Assad for using chemical weapons in Syria.
I think Putin was even more emboldened by what he saw in Afghanistan in February 2022 and the general feeling that the West had retreated. He saw those horrific images of Americans being forced to flee Afghanistan and the UK also withdrawing its troops, and that really emboldened him.
Johnson, who was foreign secretary and prime minister for part of that period, expressed regret that he had not taken stronger action.
The real problem with Ukraine is that Putin doesn't yet believe or isn't yet convinced that the West considers it an extremely important strategic goal for Ukraine to become a free and independent European country. And until he sees evidence of our resolve, I think he'll just keep going. That's where our problem lies. That's this fundamental lack of resolve.
