Boris Johnson: If Ukraine falls, it will be catastrophic turning point in history

He wrote this in a column for Daily Mail, Ukrinform reports.

"If the war in Ukraine ends in disaster then it will be for one reason only — because of the dithering, doddering drift of the West. Every month that we wait is a month in which more Ukrainian children are bombed and killed. Every week in which we fail to do the obvious — and give the Ukrainians the weapons they need — is a week in which Putin gets closer to his disgusting ambition, to torture a European country to death. Every day the pressure on the Ukrainians is growing — and yet the solution is within our grasp. We know what to do. We have done it before and we can easily do it again," Johnson said.

According to him, if Putin had succeeded in his blitzkrieg of February 2022, it would have meant the end of Ukrainian democracy and the creation of a vassal state. And in order to ensure the obedience of the newly subjugated population "Putin would have followed the hideous playbook he has used in those parts of Ukraine he has already captured: forced Russification, systematic murder of any who resist and the taking of Ukrainian children to Russia for brainwashing."

"Note how Putin runs his own country — shooting journalists, flagrantly murdering political opponents such as Alexei Navalny. That was so nearly the fate of the whole of Ukraine and the only reason it did not happen was that the Ukrainians disproved Putin's own thesis, and fought like lions for the country they love. The reason they succeeded so spectacularly was that they had already been given crucial Western support, including anti-tank missiles from the U.S. and UK. Look what the Ukrainians have achieved, against the odds, with the weaponry we have so far given them. They have driven Putin out of more than 50 per cent of the territory he has occupied; they have incapacitated more than 40 per cent of the Black Sea Fleet; they have inflicted appalling casualties on Putin’s armed forces — more than 300,000 dead or injured," Johnson wrote.

And yet, according to the British politician, it must be acknowledged that the cost to Ukraine has also been grave, and that cost is now mounting — completely unnecessarily — "because we are failing to give them what they need."

"The shortage of shells on the Ukrainian front line is now so bad that sometimes they have to wait under Russian bombardment, unable to fire back. The shortage of air defenses is now so acute that Kharkiv — the second city of Ukraine — is in danger of being turned into another Mariupol. Ukrainian power stations are being pulverized," Johnson said.

According to him, the Ukrainians used to be able to intercept 90 per cent of incoming missiles. "Now we are starving them, for reasons I do not understand, of the protective shields they need. There are about 100 Patriot systems dotted around Europe, doing nothing. Why? If this goes on — the constant Russian bombardment, the under-supply of the Ukrainians — then there is a real risk that Putin will be able to mount some kind of break-out this summer and drive his armour, once again, to Kyiv," Johnson said.

The politician said that if Ukraine falls, it will be not only a disaster for Ukraine. "Let us be clear, that if Ukraine falls, it will be not only a disaster for that innocent country. It will be a total humiliation for the West — the first time in the 75 years of NATO's existence that this hitherto successful alliance has been utterly routed — and on European soil. A defeat for Ukraine would usher in a new era of fear in the whole Euro-Atlantic area, as Putin continues his drive to rebuild the Soviet empire: from the Baltics to Georgia to Moldova to Central Asia to the Arctic," he wrote.

In addition, it will be a terrifying moment for the people of Taiwan and the clearest possible signal to China that the West has lost the willpower to protect democracy, Johnson said.

"We have it in our power to give the Ukrainians what they need: not just the $60billion package of assistance that I hope and believe the U.S. Congress will shortly approve. The Germans could and should give the Taurus missiles, and we could all give and do much, much more. We could easily give Ukraine the long range artillery to take out the communications between Russia and Crimea and cause Putin serious strategic problems," Johnson said, adding that it is also necessary to start producing ammunition.

According to him, it is time for the West, including Britain, "to snap out of our sleep-walk; to recover the spirit of Reagan and Thatcher and invest in the defense of our freedoms."

"The simplest and most cost-effective way to defend freedom is to invest now in the defense of Ukraine," he said.

Boris Johnson last visited Ukraine on February 24.

Photo: AA