The motives of Boris Johnson’s visit to Ukraine have been criticized, but it is good that the British are still playing a role on the European stage.
If British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was looking for positive publicity, he certainly succeeded with his visit to Kyiv last Saturday. Ukrainian President Zelensky called Johnson “a true friend” and stated that “all Western democracies can take an example from the United Kingdom.” But there is also full praise for Johnson outside Ukraine, and the video of his walk through the city with Zelensky has been viewed millions of times.
While Johnson was not the first leader to visit Kyiv. Last month, the prime ministers of Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Poland took a train to the Ukrainian capital (then seriously threatened by Russian troops), and a day before Johnson’s departure, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stood in the badly hit city of Butja.
But the British Prime Minister also brought something: Johnson promised 120 British armored vehicles and missile systems to take out naval ships, in addition to the €120 million worth of military equipment already pledged to Ukraine on Friday. The British have also been training Ukrainian soldiers since the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, and were the first to send weapons to Ukraine early this year.
This military aid is desperately needed, because the war is far from over. Western leaders can now travel to the capital Kyiv in relative safety, but a tough battle awaits in the east of the country: the massacres like in Butha have shown what civilians can expect.
At a handshake distance. @BorisJohnson and @ZelenskyyUa walked through the center of Kyiv and talked to ordinary Kyivans. This is what democracy looks like. This is what courage looks like. This is what true friendship between peoples and between nations looks like. pic.twitter.com/ZcdL6NqNp2
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) Apr 9, 2022
Of course, there are critical comments to be made. While Johnson was mayor of London, he welcomed Russian oligarchs with open arms, and one of them, Yevgeny Lebedev, was even ennobled by him. Moreover, the reception of Ukrainian refugees in the United Kingdom is currently far from smooth.
But it’s good to see the British stepping up to their role on the European stage – after all, on the eve of Brexit, there was some fear that the kingdom would retreat into ‘splendid isolation’. Critics argue that Johnson is driven by vanity, or that he wants to divert attention from his ‘party gate’ problems, but Europe can only applaud Britain’s decisiveness in a war in their common backyard.
The position of the newspaper is expressed in the Volkskrant Commentaar. It is created after a discussion between the commentators and the editor-in-chief.