Aformer U.K. Prime Minister said that the country may need to send troops to Ukraine if newly reelected President Donald Trump reduces U.S. funding or military support for the Ukrainians.
During an interview with the British news outlet GB News, Boris Johnson, the former Conservative prime minister, said that, if the U.K. fails to support Ukraine, costs in Britain would rise and it would be a threat to European security. Johnson added that it would be better to send troops to replace those provided by the U.S., if Trump cuts aid to Ukraine.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign for comment via email outside of business hours and to Johnson’s book publisher, Harper Collins, to reach him for comment via email outside of business hours.
Trump staffers’ purported plan to end the war in Ukraine involves freezing all conflict at the front lines. In creating an 800-mile Demilitarized Zone, the U.S. would not send troops to keep charge of it, nor pay for it. Trump has also previously criticized NATO and discussed withdrawing the U.S. from the alliance, which coordinates “the delivery of aid from allies and partners to Ukraine.”
Trump has not released official plans for the Russia-Ukraine war but has previously pushed for a ceasefire and said that he would end the war “within 24 hours.” The president-elect has also said that he believes the U.S. is sending Ukraine too much money in terms of military aid and would stop sending it if elected. President Joe Biden’s administration has gifted Ukraine $6 billion in weapons and military aid to combat Russia and the North Korean troops deployed on the front lines.
Johnson said: “What I’m saying is for people watching, thinking why are we supporting the Ukrainians? It’s because otherwise our collective security will be really degraded by a resurgent Russia threatening all sorts of parts of Europe.”
Describing this scenario, Johnson added: “We will then have to pay to send British troops to help defend Ukraine.”
The former prime minister added that the U.K.’s protection of Ukraine is vital to ensuring other European nations’ protection from Russia. He said that, if Ukraine falls, it will lead to “an even bigger threat on our borders, the borders of the European continent wherever the democracies butt up against Russia.”
Johnson also spoke of Trump’s views of Ukraine, and his influences within the Republican Party and said: “Donald Trump has lots of different voices in his ears and there’s a front of the Republican Party, quite a lot of them actually, who take the wrong line on Ukraine.”
Johnson criticized some Republicans and said they were “entranced by [Russian leader] Vladimir Putin” and have “a kind of weird sort of fanboy thing about Putin.”
Although he seemed to blame Republicans for possibly leading Trump to reduce aid to Ukraine, Johnson complimented the new president-elect and said that Trump’s previous support was crucial to the earlier battle for Kyiv.
He added: “This is the same Trump who made a huge difference to the fortunes of Ukraine when he authorized the supply of the Javelin shoulder-launched antitank weapons.”
Johnson’s warning comes as concerns rise for Trump’s possible cutting of funding and military assistance to Ukraine once he assumes office in January 2025.
The current U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently met with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss ensuring Trump cannot scale back U.S. support for Ukraine and pushing Biden to give Ukraine permission to fire Storm Shadow missiles into Russia.
Another British politician, member of Parliament and leader of the political party Liberal Democrats Ed Davey, also recently spoke about his concerns regarding Trump’s continued support of Ukraine.
Davey criticized Trump’s election and encouraged Starmer to “Trump-proof” the U.K. ahead of the Republican’s presidency. Davey noted his concerns for Ukraine, according to U.K. newspaper The Guardian.
Davey echoed Johnson’s statements and said, “We can’t simply abandon Ukraine to Putin just because Trump’s in power. We’ve been playing a critical role, and I think we could play an even more critical role by working with European friends, bringing together European countries so we can increase the aid to Ukraine, and pay for that by seizing Russian assets properly. We’ve been pushing for that for some time.”
Davey added: “Now is the moment to do it so Europe can fill the gap. But we have got to do it quickly.”
He also expressed his concerns regarding Trump’s previous praise of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and posted a video of his statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.