Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, visited Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Friday in a surprise visit to praise the “grit” of Zelensky’s troops and promised military training so his forces can defeat Russia.
“As Ukrainian soldiers fire UK missiles in defence of your nation’s sovereignty, they do so also in defence of the very freedoms we take for granted.
“That is why I have offered President Zelensky a major new military training programme that could change the equation of this war – harnessing that most powerful of forces, the Ukrainian determination to win.
“Two months on from my last visit, the Ukrainian grit, determination and resilience is stronger than ever, and I know that unbreakable resolve will long outlive the vain ambitions of President Putin.”1
Johnson took to Twitter to promise Ukrainians that the UK will be in their corner until they “ultimately prevail.”
Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s top diplomat, said in an interview a day earlier that the Kremlin was forced to carry out a “special military operation” in Ukraine because there was “no other way of explaining to the West that dragging Ukraine into NATO was a criminal act.”
He blamed both Prime Minister Boris Johnson and UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss for both openly saying that “we should force Russia to its knees.”