Boris Johnson Tells US ‘Putin Won’t Go Nuclear’

WASHINGTON — The day after former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the world that Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier threatened him with a missile strike in a phone call leading up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the statesman was in Washington at the D.C.-based Atlantic Council think tank imploring the U.S. to “avoid being drawn into Putin’s personal psychodrama” and give Ukraine tools to end its war. 

“Like the Fat Boy in Dickens, he wants to make our flesh creep,” Johnson said of Putin.

“He isn’t mad. He isn’t ill. He simply made a historic miscalculation. He won’t use nuclear weapons, [because then he] would lose China … [it would] lose him every one of the world’s swing votes.”

Instead, Johnson pleaded that there were no conceivable grounds for delay in giving Ukraine the armaments it is seeking, including longer-range weapons, armored cars to retake and hold ground, and possibly even F-16 fighter jets.

“Let’s not be penny wise and pound foolish,” Johnson said. “It is in the vital interest of the U.S. and the whole West to ensure Putin loses in Ukraine. … The cost to America, the cost to our children, of having to protect those areas would be borne for years to come.”

Johnson stressed that a decisive Ukrainian victory — with no ground ceded to Putin — would result in less threat of further Russian aggression, end the risk of further economic disruption, establish new clarity and stability in the security architecture of Europe, and greatly strengthen the entire Euro-Atlantic area. 

Any advances Putin makes due to Western inaction “embolden the Kremlin … and [tell the] Chinese all they need to know about our reluctance to stand up for freedom and democracy,” Johnson said, adding that Putin’s success would be a “dry run for Xi Jinping.” 

Johnson pushed for efforts to be made toward a faster and decisive end to the conflict. 

“God bless America for what you have done and are doing to save Ukraine,” Johnson said, acknowledging the scale of American military and financial support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression. “Without it, a terrible darkness would have fallen on an incredibly young and entirely innocent democracy.

“[Ukrainians] think that if they have the right kit in the right quantities they can take back [boundaries] to [where they were on] Feb. 24, and that’s a compelling argument,” he said.

“What is the point in having tanks in North Carolina or in North Wiltshire, when Ukrainians could be using them now to bring the war to an end?” he asked. “Experience teaches us that when it finally comes to it, we decide to let the Ukrainians have what they need. If that’s where we’re going to end up, let’s do it now.”

Kate can be reached at kate@thewellnews.com