British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hailed Ukraine’s resistance against the Russian invasion as the country’s “finest hour” and has expressed confidence that Ukraine will prevail in the war and “be free.”
In a speech to the Ukrainian Parliament delivered via video link on May 3, Johnson also confirmed the UK will send a package of support worth £300 million ($375 million) to Ukraine in the coming weeks.
This was the first address to the Ukrainian Parliament by a world leader since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion on Feb. 24.
Ukrainian MPs in the chamber could be seen holding Union Jack and Ukrainian flags, in a show of gratitude towards Britain, which has emerged as one of the country’s staunchest allies in its war effort.
Johnson told the lawmakers: “I have one message for you today: Ukraine will win. Ukraine will be free.”
He said the Ukrainians have “exploded the myth of Putin’s invincibility” and have “written one of the most glorious chapters in military history.”
“The so-called irresistible force of Putin’s war machine has broken on the immovable object of Ukrainian patriotism and love of country,” he said.
Echoing the words of Winston Churchill, Johnson said, “This is Ukraine’s finest hour, that will be remembered and recounted for generations to come.”
He said the Ukrainian resistance has “exposed Putin’s historic folly, the gigantic error that only an autocrat can make.”
He said Putin “is sowing the seeds of catastrophe, for himself and for his country.”
“Putin’s mistake was to invade Ukraine, and the carcasses of Russian armour littering your fields and streets are monuments not only to his folly, but to the dangers of autocracy itself,” Johnson said, adding, “What he has done is an advertisement for democracy.”
Johnson expressed regret over Western leaders’ failure to protect Ukraine against Russia in the past.
He said that Ukraine’s allies “must be humble about what happened in 2014,” when Russia annexed Crimea and the conflict began in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
“The truth is that we were too slow to grasp what was really happening, and we collectively failed to impose the sanctions then that we should have put on Vladimir Putin,” he said.
He vowed that “we cannot make the same mistake again.”
The prime minister told Ukrainian lawmakers that the UK will supply the country with Brimstone anti-ship missiles and Stormer anti-aircraft systems in the coming weeks.
He said the UK’s new package of support includes “radars to pinpoint the artillery bombarding your cities, heavy lift drones to supply your forces, and thousands of night vision devices.”
He added, “We will carry on supplying Ukraine, alongside your other friends, with weapons, funding, and humanitarian aid, until we have achieved our long-term goal, which must be so to fortify Ukraine that no-one will ever dare to attack you again.”
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