Sun 19 June 2022:
As Russian soldiers intensified their attack on Ukrainian positions in the east of the country, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg advised Western allies to prepare for the long haul in Ukraine.
On Saturday, Johnson and Stoltenberg issued separate warnings, while Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited front lines in the southern districts of Mykolaiv and Odesa, declaring that Ukrainians “will definitely” defeat invading Russian soldiers.
Johnson, writing in The Sunday Times newspaper, called for sustained support for Ukraine, saying the country’s foreign backers should hold their nerve to ensure it has “the strategic endurance to survive and eventually prevail”.
“Time is now the vital factor,” the British leader wrote in the 1,000-word article posted online on Saturday night.
“Everything will depend on whether Ukraine can strengthen its ability to defend its soil faster than Russia can renew its capacity to attack. Our task is to enlist time on Ukraine’s side.”
To help, he outlined a four-point plan for “constant funding and technical help”, levels of which should be maintained for “years to come” and potentially be increased. And economic concerns – amid global food and energy crises made worse by the conflict – should not lead to a rushed settlement in Ukraine, said Johnson, who is battling inflation at 40-year highs at home and spiralling domestic fuel prices.
He added that allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to keep territory in Ukraine would not lead to a more peaceful world.
“Such a travesty would be the greatest victory for aggression in Europe since the Second World War,” he said.
Stoltenberg also appealed for continued support for Ukraine, telling Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper that the supply of state-of-the-art weaponry to Ukrainian troops would increase the chance of liberating the eastern Donbas region from Russian control.
“We must prepare for the fact that it could take years. We must not let up in supporting Ukraine,” he said. “Even if the costs are high, not only for military support, also because of rising energy and food prices.”
When Putin sent his troops into Ukraine, one of his stated objectives was to block NATO’s eastward expansion and keep Moscow’s southern neighbor out of the West’s sphere of influence.
However, the war, which has killed thousands of people, reduced cities to rubble, and forced millions to leave, has had the opposite effect, persuading Finland and Sweden to join NATO and paving the path for Ukraine’s entry into the European Union.
On Friday, the European Commission proposed that Ukraine be granted EU candidate status, which the bloc’s members are expected to approve this week at a meeting.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:
TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent
FACEBOOK (CLICK HERE)
https://web.facebook.com/ipindependent
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
