UK’s Johnson Makes Surprise Visit To Kyiv, Promises More Aid To Ukraine
By RFE RL
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised more military aid to Ukraine during a surprise visit to Kyiv.
“We are with you to give you the strategic endurance that you will need,” Johnson said on June 17, shortly before a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Johnson did not go into detail on what new aid his nation will provide to Ukraine.
Kyiv has been pleading with Western nations for more heavy artillery, including howitzers and rocket launchers, saying it is outgunned 10-to-1.
Ukraine has been slowly losing territory in the Donbas due to Russia’s greater firepower, experts have said.
Nonetheless, Ukrainian forces are continuing to put up fierce resistance.
Johnson, who was making his second visit to Kyiv since Moscow launched its invasion on February 24, said Russian forces are “taking heavy casualties.”
Johnson’s visit comes a day after the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, and Romania visited Ukraine in a show of support.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz said in an interview in Berlin on June 17 that he is keeping an open line with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an attempt to end the war, but said Moscow will not be able to dictate peace terms.
He said he would tell Putin that he is mistaken “if you really believe that you will rob some land, and then hope that the times will change and all things will…become normal.”
