Does Boris Johnson Deserve a Pass Because of Ukraine?

Writing previously in these pages, I posed a series of questions about Boris Johnson’s dubious past dealings with Russian figures, his Government’s apparent willingness to turn a blind eye to the amount of Russian money in the UK financial system and evidence of Russian interference in British politics, and his ambivalent attitude on Ukraine before Russia’s invasion last year.

Given this record, I asked whether one could really take at face value his staunch support for Ukraine now. How much of his support for Ukraine is genuine and how much is it posturing or self-aggrandisement to maintain his international profile? How much might it be about positioning himself for a political comeback in the UK?

What prompted my questions was the news that he was planning to speak at a Washington-based think tank, the Atlantic Council, on the theme of the importance of sustaining support to Ukraine and Western unity in the face of Russian aggression. During his visit, Johnson also called on several senior Republican members of Congress, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, numerous prominent Senators, and a further group of Republicans at a private club.

On the eve of his visit, he wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post arguing that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had definitively made the case for Ukraine to be given NATO membership. Strategic ambiguity over its prospects was no longer an option. Johnson also gave several media interviews, including to ABC News and Fox News…

Alexandra Hall Hall for the Byline Times.