Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hailed Boris Johnson’s unannounced visit to Kyiv as “a manifestation of strong, significant, constant support” from the UK to Ukraine.
“We appreciate it and will remember it,” said the president, after Johnson secretly flew to Poland and then travelled to the Ukrainian capital by train on Saturday. The visit was made public by the Ukrainian embassy in London.
Downing Street said Britain was also offering 120 armoured vehicles and a new “anti-ship missile systems” to Ukraine, on top of £100m of military equipment already announced the previous day, reported German news site DW. It will also guarantee an extra $500m in World Bank lending if the Westminster parliament agrees and will ease tariffs on “the vast majority of imports from Ukraine”, said Politico.
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The “surprise visit” and pledge for more military equipment underscored the UK’s role as “Europe’s most enthusiastic supporter of the Ukrainian president”, said The New York Times. Johnson “has established close ties with Mr. Zelensky, talking to him regularly by phone and inviting him to address the House of Commons by video last month, the first of a number of virtual speeches Mr. Zelensky gave to foreign parliaments”, noted the newspaper.
Appearing alongside Zelensky at the weekend, Johnson said: “I think that the Ukrainians have shown the courage of a lion, and you Volodymyr have given the roar of that lion.”
The visit was “ecstatically received in Ukraine”, said The Guardian, with Johnson “the most high profile national leader to have visited since the war began”.
Footage of the two leaders walking the streets of the capital was described by The Kyiv Independent’s defence reporter Illia Ponomarenko as “one of the greatest videos the internet has ever seen”.
“Call it a photo-op if you like, but this one matters,” said The Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) editorial board. This solidarity from Johnson – as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who visited Ukraine on Friday – “sends an important political signal of European support, though it’s not as crucial as more and heavier weapons as a new campaign in eastern Ukraine unfolds”.
While the White House has also promised to send more weapons, “our sources say the flow is still too slow”, said the WSJ. “President Biden, please follow the Prime Minister and help Ukraine win this war, not merely survive it.”
Back in the UK, the Daily Mail’s Daniel Johnson said even Johnson’s enemies “must admit that the Prime Minister is playing a blinder on Ukraine”. The war has given him “a chance to play to his strengths”, becoming what the Falklands was to Margaret Thatcher 40 years ago.
“In the six weeks since Putin’s invasion began, the Prime Minister has called it right at every point – and for all the correct and moral reasons,” he wrote. “He has made himself a hero to Ukrainians and is leading the West on the global stage.”
The Guardian does not think that the prime minister “can shape this into a Falklands moment”, but it acknowledged that “wars change perceptions and perspectives”, with Johnson potentially emerging as a more “serious figure”.
“In practical terms the visit could probably achieve little that the two men’s near daily phone calls on a secure line cannot, but the symbolism of the visit is hard to surpass,” said the newspaper. “It serves a useful dual purpose. It normalises Kyiv and makes Johnson a little more extraordinary.”
