‘Ukraine will win. Ukraine will be free’
Standing ovation for PM as he tells Ukraine parliament UK will supply weapons to deter would-be aggressors
Boris Johnson received a standing ovation from Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, left, and legislators as he addressed the country’s parliament by videolink yesterday. The Prime Minister pledged to keep supplying Kyiv with weapons until Ukraine was so strong that it could never be invaded again.
BRITAIN will continue to arm Ukraine until it is so strong it can never be invaded again, Boris Johnson told the Ukrainian parliament yesterday.
“Ukraine will win, Ukraine will be free,” he said in the first address to the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv by a world leader since Russia’s February invasion.
The Prime Minister was given a standing ovation by Ukrainian MPS. Some brandished British flags and banners thanking the UK for the weapons it has sent to help repel Russian troops.
The comments follow a toughening of Western rhetoric on the goals of the war, which have shifted from defending Ukraine to defeating the Kremlin.
Speaking on a live video link, Mr Johnson said Britain had agreed a new package of support worth £300 million, including the supply of radars to pinpoint Russian artillery, thousands of night-vision devices, and heavy-lift drones to supply Ukrainian forces.
The UK will send Brimstone anti-ship missiles and Stormer anti-aircraft systems, along with 13 armoured vehicles to rescue civilians from areas under siege and get key workers in position to repair Ukraine’s infrastructure.
“We will carry on supplying Ukraine, alongside your other friends, with weapons, funding and humanitarian aid until we have achieved our long-term goal, which must be so to fortify Ukraine that no one will ever dare to attack you again,” said Mr Johnson.
“We in the UK will do everything we can to restore a free sovereign and independent Ukraine.”
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, made his first appearance in parliament since the war began, and was greeted with cheers and applause.
He said the UK and Ukraine were now “brothers and sisters”.
“Ukraine and Britain have gone from partners to friends and brothers, and the one who lied that he was a friend and brother has gone from being a neighbour to being an occupier and terrorist,” he said, referring to Russia.
“Is this sad? Yes. Is it frightening? No, it’s not frightening when beside you, you have a friend such as Britain and a leader such as Boris Johnson.”
Mr Johnson said many experts expected “Russian armour to be like an irresistible force going like a knife through butter and that Kyiv would fall within days”.
“You have proved them completely wrong, every one of those military experts who said Ukraine would fall,” he told its parliament on the day the British embassy reopened in Kyiv.
“You have exploded the myth of Putin’s invincibility and you have written one of the most glorious chapters in military history and in the life of your country.
“Your children and grandchildren will say that Ukrainians taught the world that the brute force of an aggressor counts for nothing against the moral force of a people determined to be free.
“This is Ukraine’s finest hour, that will be remembered and recounted for generations to come,” Mr Johnson said.
When he addressed the UK Parliament in March, Mr Zelensky also evoked Winston Churchill, saying: “We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets.”
The UK is now the most generous donor of bilateral aid to Ukraine in Europe: it has given a total of £2.1billion in aid since the start of the conflict. This puts it just ahead of Poland, which has given about £2 billion.
Mr Johnson accused Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, of “sowing the seeds of catastrophe, for himself and for his country”, and said his army was guilty of war crimes.
“This is about the right of Ukrainians to protect themselves against Putin’s violent and murderous aggression,” he said. “It is about Ukrainian democracy against Putin’s tyranny.”
Mr Johnson admitted the West had failed to impose sufficiently tough sanctions on Russia after its 2014 invasion of Ukraine and added: “We cannot make the same mistake again.”
He also said no country would put pressure on Kyiv to agree a quick peace because it had suffered so much at the hands of Moscow.
Mr Putin told Emmanuel Macron, the French president, in a telephone call on Tuesday, that he was open to dialogue with Kyiv.
Mr Macron urged Mr Putin to agree to a ceasefire and said he had “deep concerns” about Russia’s attacks on Mariupol and in the Donbas region.
Meanwhile, Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine is proof that Ireland desperately needs a “fit-for-purpose” military, the country’s defence forces chief of staff has said.
“Continuing the status quo is simply not credible. It is not an option,” said Lieutenant General Sean Clancy.
The Commission on the Defence Forces warned earlier this year that “business as usual” would leave Ireland unable to defend itself and called for improved military intelligence, troop protection and firepower, in addition to boosted air, coastal and cyber defences.