Former prime minister Boris Johnson says that the UK and its allies should deploy non-combat troops to Ukraine right now, to ‘flip a switch’ in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s head.
Speaking exclusively to BBC, Johnson said troops should be sent to peaceful regions in non-fighting roles.
He said: “If we can have a plan for boots on the ground after the war, after Putin has condescended to have a ceasefire, then why not do it now?”
The UK government is currently working with its allies to plan a ‘coalition of the willing’ to provide forces to preserve peace and stability in Ukraine, but only if there is a deal to end the war.
Speaking just days before the fourth anniversary of the war, Johnson, who was prime minister at the time of the invasion, also said the conflict could have been prevented if Western allies had paid more attention to Putin’s increasing aggression and his annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Johnson and former head of the military, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, recounted the moment when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and the early days of the war, when the decision to support President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was made.
Despite extensive UK support, they agreed that Western allies had been too slow and cautious in providing support to Ukraine.
In the past four years, allies have often taken months to agree to sending the weapons that Zelenskiy has requested.
Adm Radakin described the allies’ approach as ‘incrementalism’ and said Ukraine felt it was ‘too slow and it’s deeply frustrating – these tensions have existed all the way through’.
Johnson said that the caution had cost lives.
“We’ve always delayed needlessly,” he said.
“We’ve then ended up giving the Ukrainians what they have been asking for, and actually it’s always served to their advantage and to the disadvantage of Putin.
“I mean, the one person who suffers from escalation is Putin.”
He added: “If we can have boots on the ground after the war, after Putin has condescended to have a ceasefire, then why not do it now?
“Just to make this point that it is up to the Ukrainians, and these people wouldn’t be there in a war-fighting capacity, right?”
Asked if he meant that UK and other European allies’ forces should go to safe parts of Ukraine now to ‘flip a switch’, he said: “Yes, I think, you know, if we are willing to do it in the context of a ceasefire, which of course puts all the initiative, all the power in Putin’s hands, why not do it now?”
In response to Johnson’s comments, a Defence Ministry spokesperson said: “We are proud of UK leadership on Ukraine – supporting the fight today and working to secure the peace tomorrow.
“It’s why this government is providing the highest ever level of military support, including a recent half-billion-pound air defence package just last week, accelerating £200 million for the UK military to prepare for any Ukraine deployment, and working with over 30 nations through the UK-led Coalition of the Willing.”
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