Prime Minsiter Boris Johnson has pledged hundreds of millions of more pounds sterling to the Ukrainian government despite Britain being cash-strapped amid the cost of living crisis.
Mr Johnson argued that the additional £429 million in aid funding to the embattled Zelensky regime was worth paying as the cost of Russia prevailing would be “much higher”.
The British leader, who is currently clinging onto power amid swirling questions in Westminster about his potential ouster, made the aid declaration at the meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) nations in the plush Elmau Castle in the Bavarian Alps of Germany on Sunday.
Johnson is not alone at the summit in facing significant political strife on the domestic front, with French President Emmanuel Macron losing his parliamentary majority in the National Assembly last Sunday and American President Joe Biden’s approval ratings falling to the low 30s after a disastrous two years of failed economic and foreign policies.
Nevertheless, Johnson made calls to rally around the cause of Ukraine, which is likely a welcome distraction from the bad news cycles for the globalist leaders.
“The price of backing down, of allowing President Putin to hack off parts of Ukraine, to continue with his programme of conquest – that price will be far, far higher and everyone here understands that,” Johnson said per the BBC.
The latest round of British aid to Ukraine will come in the form of World Bank lending guarantees and will take the total amount of aid provided to the Eastern European nation to £1.5 billion since the Russian invasion in February.
Meanwhile, the Johnson administration has refused to lower taxes at home under the guise of paying down the massive debts incurred during coronavirus lockdowns and preventing further inflation, which has already hit the highest level in 40 years.
In addition to the £429 million aid package to Ukraine, the UK, along with other G7 nations, agreed to place sanctions on Russian gold, which behind energy, is the country’s largest export. The move will seek to further limit Vladimir Putin’s government from operating in international financial systems.
“The measures we have announced today will directly hit Russian oligarchs and strike at the heart of Putin’s war machine,” Boris Johnson said.
“We need to starve the Putin regime of its funding. The UK and our allies are doing just that,” he added.
While the G7 leaders will attempt to put on the appearance of a united front — amid Russian shelling of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv (Kiev) — there are growing divides within the West as to the correct strategy going forward.
While France and Germany are seen as being more inclined to broker a peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has kept to his hawkish support of President Volodymir Zelensky, arguing that any agreement that cedes Ukrainian territory to Russia would b akin to appeasement.
In bilateral talks with Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, Mr Johnson told his French counterpart that any attempt to end the war now would give Vladimir Putin the “licence to manipulate sovereign countries”.
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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