Johnson, the former British prime minister who has been a staunch ally of Ukraine while also praising Trump, leapt to the U.S. president’s defense Wednesday. He challenged some of Trump’s latest claims — but said European nations should see them as part of a negotiating gambit rather than a serious position.
Writing on X, Johnson said: “When are we Europeans going to stop being scandalised about Donald Trump and start helping him to end this war?
“Of course Ukraine didn’t start the war. You might as well say that America attacked Japan at Pearl Harbor.
“Of course a country undergoing a violent invasion should not be staging elections. There was no general election in the UK from 1935 to 1945. Of course Zelenskyy’s ratings are not 4 percent. They are actually about the same as Trump’s.”
But the former PM added: “Trump’s statements are not intended to be historically accurate but to shock Europeans into action.”
Since leaving office in 2022, Johnson has lobbied top Republicans to stay the course in their support for Ukraine. He dined with Trump to discuss Ukraine and met the U.S. president at the Republican National Convention.
