Boris Johnson says West should have armed Ukraine earlier to deter Russia

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has accused the West of failing to do enough to deter Russia before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and called for faster deliveries of weapons and financial support during a visit to Lviv.

Speaking at the BookForum festival, where he presented the Ukrainian edition of his book “There Are No Kaidans”, Johnson said Western countries had already known that Ukraine was under attack when Russia first intervened in 2014. Kaidans is the Ukrainian word for chaina.

“People in the West have now forgotten that Ukraine was attacked back in 2014,” he said, arguing that Western governments should have made clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin that further aggression would result in substantial military and financial support for Ukraine.

“We should have told Putin what later turned out to be true: we will arm Ukraine,” Johnson said. “But we didn’t. And the world paid a big price because we didn’t do enough to stop it in 2022.”

His remarks put the emphasis not only on Ukraine’s resistance but also on what he sees as the consequences of the West’s earlier reluctance to provide greater support.

Johnson said Ukraine was now confronting Russia while defending principles extending beyond its own borders.

“You have achieved a lot, because you are standing up to the second largest army in the world,” he told the audience in Lviv, describing Ukrainians as supporting “this fire of freedom”.

He also pointed to continued support for Ukraine in Britain, saying Ukrainian flags were flying in his home town and that Ukrainians were inspiring people in the country.

But Johnson said international assistance was still arriving too slowly.

“These are very tragic events, and you are not getting help as quickly as it should be,” he said.

“We need to give more weapons, more support. The world needs to be more active in helping you,” Johnson added. “You need more, and you need it today, not tomorrow.”

Johnson also called for greater use of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine. He referred to €140 billion in frozen Russian assets held in Belgian banks and said the money could be unfrozen and transferred to help Ukraine.

His intervention came during his first visit to Lviv, according to the Lviv City Council. Johnson said he had previously travelled to Ukraine many times, but mostly to Kyiv and the surrounding region.

The visit combined political messages on the war with the presentation of the Ukrainian edition of his book, published by Kharkiv-based Vivat. Johnson thanked the festival and publisher for the Ukrainian edition and referred to the impact of Russian attacks on Vivat’s warehouses.

“Putin is trying to destroy Ukrainian books,” Johnson said, arguing that the Russian president should read his book because it would show him why he would ultimately lose.

He also discussed his previous political roles, including his time as Mayor of London and Foreign Secretary, as well as Brexit and Ukraine’s future accession to the European Union.

The former prime minister also left a message in Lviv’s Book of Honored Guests, praising the city and the resilience of Ukrainians.

“It is extraordinary to see the sacrifice of the people of this beautiful city of Lviv and the courage and endurance of all of Ukraine,” Johnson wrote, adding that the world was indebted to Ukraine and that it would win.

He said he was struck by the price Ukrainians were paying for their independence and reiterated his call for greater international support.

Johnson’s visit also included commemorative events. He laid flowers at the graves of Ukrainian defenders at Lychakiv Cemetery and paid tribute to those killed during the Heavenly Hundred protests.

He visited Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, where he personally accepted the title of Honorary Doctor.

Johnson also assured Ukrainians that Britain would continue to support them in defending themselves against Russian aggression.

As prime minister, Boris Johnson made early and very public British support for Ukraine a signature of his last year in office. After Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 he visited Kyiv, pledged weapons and money, and argued in Western capitals that Ukraine should be armed to fight, not pressed into a hurried deal on Moscow’s terms. Britain under Johnson was among the first European governments to send anti-tank weapons and then heavier kit; he cast the war as a simple case of aggression against a democracy.

That record is tangled up with a persistent claim about the spring 2022 talks in Istanbul. Russian officials – and some later commentators – say Ukraine and Russia were close to a settlement under which Kyiv would stay out of NATO in return for security guarantees, and that Johnson flew to Kyiv in April 2022 and talked President Volodymyr Zelenskyy out of signing, prolonging the war. Johnson calls that Russian propaganda. Zelenskyy has said the story does not fit the facts: there was no finished treaty, Russia was still demanding terms Ukraine would not accept, and several rounds of talks came with ultimatums he never approved. What existed were drafts and a negotiation, not a signed peace that one British visit tore up. The argument that remains is not whether Johnson “sabotaged a deal,” but whether the West’s early military backing – which he championed – made a ceasefire harder, or made Ukrainian resistance possible.

With EUalive’s partner Suspilne

Caption: Boris Johnson presents his book “No More Kaidans” in Lviv. Public Lviv