In London, Boris Johnson placed an absolutely wild op-ed in The Times on June 18 with no connection to the reality that Ukraine is losing the war. In it, Johnson claimed that “Vladimir Putin’s visions of glory” would not stop at “dismembering Ukraine” but has “arrogated to Russia an eternal right to ‘take back’ any territory ever inhabited by ‘Slavs.’” If Putin is not stopped, “every dictator would feel emboldened to pursue their own ambitions by force—and no nation anywhere would be safe.” (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/boris-johnson-we-will-never-be-secure-if-we-turn-our-backs-on-valiant-ukraine-education-commission-9sd5z2bxq)
Johnson declared that “nearly four months after Putin invaded Ukraine and started the biggest war in Europe since 1945, the U.K. and our allies are united in our iron resolve never to countenance any of the above.” The most important “fact” is that “Ukrainian heroism and sacrifice saved Kyiv from Russia’s armored assault and preserved the state with President Zelenskyy at the helm.” With this nonsense as his starting premise, Johnson then goes on to paint the Russian special military operation as “Putin’s failure.”
“Putin may not realize it but his grand imperial design for the total reconquest of Ukraine has been derailed,” Johnson claims. “Don’t fall for the notion that heavier Russian firepower must translate into steady Russian gains. Don’t be fooled by Russia’s agonizingly slow advance in the Donbas region or the tactical back-and-forth in the Severodonetsk salient.”
“Seizing all of the Donbas was Putin’s objective as long ago as 2014, when he ignited a separatist rebellion and launched his first invasion. Now, eight years and thousands of lives later, he is still short of this goal.
