Boris Johnson has told Vladimir Putin to “get the hell out of Ukraine” and says Trump won’t cut off funding if elected because he “won’t want to be the president who surrendered to Russia.”
Johnson urged kyiv to take a quick route to ending the war, forcing the Kremlin dictator to withdraw from annexed Crimea.
In a new interview broadcast in Ukraine, the former British prime minister predicted that Trump, if re-elected to the White House, would continue to back Volodymyr Zelensky.
“You don’t want to become the president who surrendered to Putin,” Johnson predicted.
He insisted that it was not feasible to hold talks with Putin, asking: “Is it possible to negotiate with a crocodile if you have your foot in its mouth?”
In a new interview broadcast in Ukraine, the former British prime minister predicted that Trump, if re-elected to the White House, would continue to back Volodymyr Zelensky.
When asked about his message to Putin, he said: “I would tell him: ‘Get out of Ukraine!'”
The war will not end this year and “maybe not even next,” he said in an interview with television journalist Dmitry Gordon during his recent visit to kyiv.
“Everything will end when Russia and Putin realize that they are alone against a force that will never back down,” he added.
But he urged Ukraine to continue attacking Crimea, occupied for a decade, because it was Putin’s vulnerability.
“I think one thing could change the situation very quickly: if Putin has problems in Crimea,” he said, according to the translation.
‘If he feels the risk of losing Crimea, everything will be different in the Kremlin.
“This is the setting for a quick end to the war.”
Putin is known to regard the mountainous and coastal Black Sea peninsula, Crimea, as the jewel of his invaded Ukrainian territories.
When asked about his message to Putin, he said: “I would tell him: ‘Get out of Ukraine!'”
‘Do yourself a favor.
“He controls the Russian media; he will find a way to explain everything to them.”
‘He will say that Ukraine has been “denazified”… and all that nonsense.
‘He will say that he destroyed all the ‘Nazis’ in Ukraine. Amazing!
‘Now go out and rejoice in success!
And I would have achieved it.
“The Russians would believe him and breathe a sigh of relief.”
Johnson insisted that talks with Putin were not viable, asking: “Is it possible to negotiate with a crocodile if you have your foot in its mouth?”
Johnson also predicted that the United States would maintain its support for Ukraine despite the current political stalemate in Washington.
Speaking about Putin in his interview with Kiev television journalist Dmitry Gordon, Johnson said: “He will say that Ukraine has been ‘denazified’… and all that nonsense.”
Johnson denied Putin’s accusation that he had single-handedly prevented the Ukrainians from negotiating a peace deal at the start of the conflict in 2022.
Putin told former Fox News journalist Tucker Carlson that the former British prime minister “dissuaded” Kiev from a deal, adding: “The fact that they obey the demand or the persuasion of Mr. Johnson, the former prime minister of “Britain, it seems ridiculous.”
“This is nonsense, it is simply not true,” the former prime minister said.
‘I don’t think any Western leader at that stage, even if they really wanted to, could stop Ukraine and fight for its freedom.
“I don’t think there was any agreement to be made.
“I don’t think anyone could see what that deal was…
‘Is it possible to negotiate with a crocodile if you have your foot in its mouth?
‘What kind of deal could there be…?
‘I think it’s Russian propaganda.
“This is just Russian propaganda and an attempt to shift the blame to someone else.
“This is pure nonsense.”
Johnson also predicted that the United States would maintain its support for Ukraine despite the current political stalemate in Washington.
Johnson urged kyiv to take a quick route to ending the war, forcing the Kremlin dictator to withdraw from annexed Crimea.
‘I think so. “I don’t know, but I would be very surprised if this didn’t happen,” he told Gordon.
‘Now everyone is discussing what’s going on with Trump, what will come of this?
‘Everyone needs to be more careful and a little patient.
‘Now elections are being held. During elections, people can say different things.
‘They have different interest groups that they must reach…
“I think Trump will want to be the president who defends freedom and makes America great again.”
“You don’t want to become the president who surrendered to Putin.”
Putin today told NATO countries that they risked a nuclear conflict if they sent troops to Ukraine, adding that Russia must strengthen its western military district after the admission of Finland and Sweden to the Atlantic alliance.
The United States and key European allies said this week they had no plans to send ground troops to Ukraine, after France hinted at that possibility.
Putin issued the warning during his annual speech to the Russian parliament and other members of the country’s elite.