Boris Johnson panned for comparing Ukraine fight with Russia to Brexit

LONDON (BLOOMBERG, REUTERS) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was attacked by political opponents past and present after comparing the Ukrainian army's battle to fend off Russia with the Brexit campaign.

With Ukraine's ambassador to Britain present, Mr Johnson told a Conservative Party conference on Saturday (March 19) it was the instinct of British people, like Ukrainians, to choose freedom every time.

"I can give you a couple of famous recent examples. When the British people voted for Brexit, in such large, large numbers, I don't believe it was because they were remotely hostile to foreigners. It's because they wanted to be free to do things differently and for this country to be able to run itself," Mr Johnson said.

Britons voted in June 2016 by a 52 per cent to 48 per cent margin to leave the European Union, which Ukraine made a formal request to join on Feb 28, four days after Russia sent its troops into the country.

On Friday, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights estimated that 816 Ukrainian civilians, including 36 children, had been killed since the invasion began.

Reaction was swift.

Mr Douglas Alexander, a former minister from the opposition Labour Party, said the comments were "facile, flawed and morally unworthy".

Mr Guy Verhofstadt, the former Belgian prime minister, said they were "insane".

Mr Donald Tusk, the former European Council president and now Poland's opposition leader, directly addressed Mr Johnson, saying "your words offend Ukrainians, the British and common sense".

Mr Johnson was the figurehead of the 2016 campaign that won a referendum on leaving the EU and he has been trying to position himself as a leading figure in the efforts to support Ukraine and its president, Mr Volodymyr Zelensky.

Moscow refers to its actions in Ukraine as a "special operation" to weaken its southern neighbour's military capabilities and root out people it calls dangerous nationalists.

Ukrainian forces have mounted stiff resistance and Western countries have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in an effort to force it to withdraw its forces.

Mr Zelensky has been asking EU leaders to grant Ukraine fast-track membership to help him fend off the Russian invasion.

Mr Johnson said Britain stood with Ukraine and that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "terrified" that a democratic and free Ukraine would undermine his rule over Russia.

"To try to renormalise relations with Putin after this, as we did in 2014, would be to make exactly the same mistake again," Mr Johnson said.