UK should send non-combat troops to Ukraine now, Boris Johnson says

Boris Johnson has said the UK and allies should send non-combat troops to Ukraine now to show support for Kyiv’s sovereignty.

The former prime minister warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin would likely “keep going” until he was convinced of the West’s determination for the war-torn country to be free and independent.

Sitting alongside former head of the military Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, Mr Johnson told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show there was “no logical reason” why there should not be non-fighting boots on the ground in Ukraine in the immediate future.

“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?” he said.

Britain and France are currently leading plans with allies for a so-called “coalition of the willing” prepared to deploy peacekeeping forces in the event of a deal to end the war.

In an intervention days before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Mr Johnson also suggested the war could have been prevented if western countries had responded differently to Mr Putin’s growing aggression.

He said the failure to act over the Russian leader’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, when Lord David Cameron was prime minister, was “tragic”.

The president was further emboldened by a “general sense that the West was on the backfoot” in recent years, Mr Johnson said.

“He’d seen those appalling pictures of Americans being forced to flee Afghanistan and the UK pulling out as well,” he said.

Mr Johnson, who was foreign secretary from 2016 to 2018 and prime minister from 2019 to 2022, said he thought “we should have done more,” adding: “The real problem is, with Ukraine, that Putin does not yet believe, or he has not yet been convinced, that the West regards it as an overwhelming strategic objective for Ukraine to be a free and independent European country.

“And until he sees the evidence that that is our determination, I think he’s just going to keep going.

“That’s the problem we’re in. It’s that fundamental lack of resolve.”

Meanwhile, Sir Tony called on the Government to “resolve” its promise to spend 3.5% of national income on defence by 2035, which it made in line with a pledge by Nato members last year.

He said the military alliance had “galvanised around an operational plan and the need for more spending, and that has to be resolved,” adding: “We have made that commitment. Nato is challenging us. Where is our plan?”

A Ministry of Defence 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.

“The multinational force Ukraine under UK leadership will secure peace for the long term, with the Prime Minister being clear that we will put British troops on the ground following the end of hostilities.”