“The second thing I’ve always noted was that actually it was Trump back in 2018 who gave them the Javelin … missiles, and Trump broke the taboo on giving Ukrainians lethal weapons, which the Democrats have not done,” he added.
Trump in his second term has upended European military policy by slashing aid to Ukraine and casting doubt on whether the United States would honor its NATO commitments to defend a fellow member were it attacked by Russia.
He has signed a minerals deal aimed at seeing Kyiv pay back aid given to by the U.S. under Biden, embarrassed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House and shown a growing closeness with Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin.
Johnson, when asked about claiming in the past that Trump would be “strong and decisive” on Ukraine, said: “Leaders like President Trump listen to lots of different voices before making up their mind,” adding: “I’m anxious, but I don’t think that Donald Trump’s instinct will be to let Ukraine be crushed. And I don’t think that he has the political space to allow it to happen.”
Johnson — who has lobbied hard for U.S. Republicans to stay the course in supporting Ukraine and insisted European fears about Donald Trump’s Ukraine strategy are overblown — said: “I have always thought that if we can get peace through strength in Ukraine, then Trump — for all the criticisms people make of him — Trump can actually deliver.”
‘No real pressure’ on Russia
Johnson was in office in the U.K. during Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has remained a staunch ally of Kyiv. He said Tuesday that talks between the two sides were now at a “very crucial moment,” with Ukraine “pushed into a corner” and asked to accept concessions on land and not taking up NATO membership that amount to an “awful lot.”