We must prepare for darker days ahead in Russian aggression, PM warns allies

The West has “failed to learn the lessons of Russian behaviour” that have led to the invasion of Ukraine, the Prime Minister said as he warned world leaders: “We need to prepare now for even darker days ahead.”

In a nearly 1,300-word essay in the New York Times published on Sunday, Boris Johnson appealed to his counterparts to do more to resist the normalisation of the Russian offensive.

“Have we done enough for Ukraine? The honest answer is no,” he wrote, as he set out a six-point plan which he thinks will tackle Russian President Vladimir Putin’s advance.

Mr Johnson said “never in my life have I seen an international crisis where the dividing line between right and wrong has been so stark”, as he insisted world leaders “must not allow anyone in the Kremlin to get away with misrepresenting our intentions to find post-facto justification for their war of choice”.

Mr Putin has repeatedly tried to blame fears over the expansion of Nato as a reason for launching the attack on Ukraine.

But Mr Johnson said: “The truth is that Ukraine had no serious prospect of Nato membership in the near future.

“This is not a Nato conflict and it will not become one. No ally has sent combat troops to Ukraine.

“We were ready to respond to Russia’s stated security concerns through negotiation. I and many other Western leaders have spoken to President Putin to understand his perspective.

“It was now clear diplomacy never had a chance. But it is precisely because of our respect for Russia that we find the actions of the Putin regime so unconscionable.”

Mr Johnson called on leaders to mobilise an “international humanitarian coalition” for Ukraine and support the country “in its efforts to provide for its own self-defence”.

The economic pressure on the Kremlin should be ratcheted up, he said, and leaders must resist the “creeping normalisation” of what Russia is doing in Ukraine.

“We have failed to learn the lessons of Russian behaviour that have led to this point,” he wrote.

“No-one can say we were not warned: we saw what Russia did in Georgia in 2008, Ukraine in 2014 and even on the streets of the British city of Salisbury. And I know from speaking to my counterparts on recent visits to Poland and Estonia just how acutely they feel the threat.”

Mr Johnson also said while diplomatic paths to resolving the war must be pursued, this could only be done with the full participation of the “legitimate Government of Ukraine”.

He added that there also needs to be a rapid campaign to strengthen security and resilience across the Euro-Atlantic area.

“It is no longer enough to express warm platitudes about the rules-based international order,” he said.

Mr Johnson discussed his plans with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call on Sunday afternoon, where he said “the British people stand fully behind the Ukrainian people”.

Shadow defence secretary John Healey said the Prime Minister must match his rhetoric with action.

He told Times Radio: “In many ways, some of our allies could reasonably turn around and say ‘well it’s all very well for you, Boris Johnson, but you’ve got to now match some of your tough rhetoric with your own action, particularly on humanitarian assistance, on diplomacy and on sanctions’.”

The Prime Minister’s intervention comes as a desperate humanitarian crisis emerges in Ukraine.

The hopes of a temporary ceasefire in two Ukrainian cities were dashed again on Sunday, after a previous attempt on Saturday could not go ahead due to continued shelling.

A Ukrainian official says a second attempt to evacuate civilians from Mariupol has failed due to continued Russian shelling.

Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko said those continuing the attack were “animals, that’s the only reaction we have right now”.

Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Ukraine had reported it had lost contact with the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which is now under Russian control.

“Russian forces at the site have switched off some mobile networks and the internet so that reliable information from the site cannot be obtained through the normal channels of communication,” a statement on the IAEA website said.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme: “I’m very sceptical about any assurances or commitments that President Putin makes.”

Mr Raab also defended the UK’s support to Ukrainians fleeing the country, after reports in the French media that 150 refugees had been turned away at Calais because they did not have a visa.

French interior minister Gerald Darmanin is reported to have accused London of a “totally inadequate response” and “lack of humanity” and called on Home Secretary Priti Patel to set up a proper consular presence in Calais to deal with the humanitarian crisis.

However Ms Patel said: “Let me just correct what has been said by the French government. The British Government is not turning anybody around or turning anybody back at all.

“And I think it’s really important to emphasise that, particularly at this time, when all nations across Europe must work together to help and support people in need and fleeing Ukraine at this awful, awful time.”

The Home Office said “around 50” visas had been granted under the Ukraine Family Scheme as of 10am on Sunday.

Some 5,535 online applications have been completed and submitted online and 2,368 people had booked a visa appointment to submit their application and biometric information, the Government said.

Ms Patel said she was “doing everything possible” to speed up efforts to grant visas to Ukrainians fleeing the conflict.

However Mr Raab said: “Look, if we just open the door not only will we not benefit the people that we need to, the genuine refugees, but I think we undermine the popular support for this very thing, so I don’t think that’s the right thing to do.

“We need to make sure that we’re acting for those that need our support.”

More than 1.5 million refugees have fled Ukraine in the past 10 days in the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War, the United Nations has said.