Western Morning News (Saturday)
PM: Putin has united Europe in support of Ukraine
PRIME Minister Boris Johnson has condemned the “unconscionable” targeting of fleeing civilians at an eastern Ukraine railway station by Russia, and said it showed the “depths” to which President Vladimir Putin’s army has “sunk”. He said Putin thought he could divide Europe but he had only succeeded in uniting it further.
Britain is to send a fresh package of “high-grade” military equipment to Ukraine amid signs Russian forces are preparing for a new offensive in the east of the country.
Mr Johnson said the UK would be sending £100m of kit, including more Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles, anti-tank weapons and “precision munitions”, such as drones capable of loitering in the sky until directed to their target.
After talks in Downing Street with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the two leaders condemned the strike on a crowded rail station at Kramatorsk – suggesting the Russians
were guilty of war crimes.
Mr Johnson praised Germany’s “seismic” efforts to end its dependence on supplies of Russian oil and gas. But after the disclosure that the EU has spent 35 billion euros on Russian hydrocarbons since the start of the invasion, while sending just one billion euros in aid to Ukraine, Mr Scholz acknowledged that change would take time.
While Germany was investing heavily in renewables for its electricity, he said that it would need to import fossil fuels for years to come.
“It is absolutely necessary that we understand that for the time being, it will be important to get the supply from fossil resources from other places than from Russia,” he told the joint news conference.
“We are doing so and working very hard to make this happen.”
The latest UK package of lethal military aid follows an appeal from the Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba for Nato to send “weapons, weapons, weapons”, including armoured vehicles.
But despite UK defence ministers having recently shown their Ukrainian counterpart “protected mobility vehicles”, there was no mention of supplying armour in Mr Johnson’s statement. In response to questions, he said the priority was to get equipment to the Ukrainians which they could easily operate.
“I’m in principle willing to consider anything by way of defensive weaponry to help the Ukrainians protect themselves and their people,” he said. “I think it’s important that we should be giving equipment that is genuinely useful and is operable by Ukrainians, that’s our consideration.”