As we surpass 120 days since Russian dictator Vladimir Putin launched a brutal war against the people of Ukraine, Boris Johnson reaffirms the United Kingdom’s commitment to ensuring a Ukrainian victory amid what he calls “Ukraine Fatigue”. Whilst meeting with leaders from G7 countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States of America and the European Union, Johnson put forward the case for continued unity against Russia’s increasingly aggressive attitude towards the international community.
This comes as Russia commits yet another atrocity against the Ukrainian people by bombing a crowded shopping centre holding over 1,000 civilians following a worrying pattern of aggression against civilians and reminiscent of Putin’s bombing of schools and hospitals just 2 months ago. This all goes to prove Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky right in that Putin is committing an ethnic genocide against the people of Ukraine and as much as Russia seeks to deny it, actions speak much louder than words, and these actions speak volumes.
On his return from the G7 summit hosted in Germany, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said to reporters:
“The worry that we have is that a bit of Ukraine fatigue is starting to set in around the world and what you've got to understand is that the Ukrainians are suffering terribly in the east of their country and Putin is continuing to commit appalling atrocities. It’s very important to show that we're with them for the long haul and we're giving them that strategic resilience that they need. It would be a catastrophe if Putin won and a catastrophe if he was able to secure the land bridge and the cities in the south that he has to hold the Donbas that's what he wants he wants and for him, that would be a tremendous victory and the anxiety of the UK and many other governments around the world is that would be a disaster because you'd have a situation in which Putin was able to consolidate his gains and then to launch another attack”
At the G7 summit, world leaders issued a joint statement reaffirming their support for Ukraine and commitment to seeing Putin lose this war. In addition, they agreed on new measures in order to achieve this goal such as: imposing block sanctions on Russian state-owned defence entities, implementing higher tariffs on Russian products and a complete ban on importing Russian gold to prevent the country from participating in the formal gold market. These measures, combined with existing united efforts, will put increased pressure on the Russian economy and cripple Putin’s war machine.
With the cost-of-living crisis, rising fuel and electricity bills, inflation and strikes – it can be easy to push aside Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. However, this is not the reality for millions of Ukrainians who have found a war land on their doorsteps, removing them from their homes and playing havoc with their lives. As emphasised by Boris Johnson it is extremely important that we do not allow Ukraine fatigue to provide Putin with the victory he desperately needs to remain in power and continue to oppress all those who live under his regime.