Insults hurled by Donald Trump at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are “ghastly to hear” and “complete untruths”, former British prime minister Boris Johnson has said.
A friend of both men, however, he said he was “optimistic” Kyiv and Washington would agree an “economic partnership” that would benefit both sides.
Speaking to Sky News on a trip to Kyiv, Mr Johnson also said Sir Keir Starmer should hike UK defence spending up to 3% of national income “very quickly” – at least by 2030 “if not sooner”.
He also said the best way for the prime minister to demonstrate UK credibility on defence would be to use a meeting with Mr Trump in Washington this week to set out a plan for an “Anglo-French” force to help provide security for Ukraine.
Mr Johnson described this as the start of a “steel-quilled porcupine of future Ukrainian security”, saying it should be up to 30,000-strong, including troops from across Europe.
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The former prime minister, who led the UK response to Russia’s full-scale war and is viewed as a hero by many in Ukraine, said it is “horrendous” to think the conflict is still raging.
“I really grieve for the suffering of Ukraine, for the people of Ukraine I’m particularly pained,” he said.
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But he was critical of a series of verbal attacks by Mr Trump against Mr Zelenskyy, which included calling him a “dictator without elections” and suggesting Ukraine was to blame for the war.
“It’s ghastly to hear, some of the language that’s been coming from Washington about who started the war and Zelenskyy being a dictator,” Mr Johnson said, speaking bluntly.
“We all know that these are complete untruths.”
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But the former prime minister signalled he believed the US leader was still on Kyiv’s side and he would not want Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold power over Ukraine’s future.
“I remain actually optimistic about Ukraine and about their chances of success,” he said.
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Mr Johnson pointed to a deal that Washington wants to sign with Kyiv that will give the US access to Ukraine’s vast mineral wealth – though the Ukrainians want US security guarantees in return.
Referring to a draft text, he said it contained lines such as “America committed to a free, sovereign, secure Ukraine.
“Money to go to building up Ukraine’s future security. America committing to long-term financial support”.
He said a commitment to Ukraine’s long-term security was also needed but he did not expect that to be included in the initial document.
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“I think what needs to happen is that we, us, the Brits, the French… need to step up and show to Donald Trump, that we are willing to do what he keeps asking for and to take more of the burden ourselves,” he said.
Mr Johnson said he hoped Sir Keir would use his trip to Washington to “set out an Anglo-French deterrent force that can begin to provide the steel-quilled porcupine of future Ukrainian security”.
Sir Keir and French President Emmanuel Macron – who was in Washington on Monday – have been developing a plan with other European and Western allies to build a force of up to 30,000 troops to provide reassurance to Ukraine following a ceasefire.
Mr Johnson said this would be an important demonstration of European strength in the eyes of the American leader.
“I think an Anglo-French plan for a deterrent force – I’m not talking about war fighting, I’m talking about forces that go in to help with logistics, to help backfilling, to help with training…. perhaps maximum 30,000 from the whole of Europe.
“It would be symbolic, but it would be exactly what [Vladimir] Putin doesn’t want and what he thinks that he can forbid.”
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The former British leader said the Russian president wants to block Ukraine from having British troops on its land or from joining NATO.
“But I don’t think that Donald Trump can possibly accept that outcome. I know, he won’t accept that outcome,” Mr Johnson said.
“He doesn’t want Putin to win any more than anybody else here in Kyiv does.”
Sir Keir is expected to set a timeframe as early as this week for when Britain will lift its defence budget to 2.5% of GDP from 2.3% – but Mr Johnson signalled that Mr Trump would be expecting a “bigger number”.
“I think he needs to go higher…. I think in the United States, they’re going to want to hear a bigger number,” he said.
