Ukraine will win, British PM Johnson tells Ukrainian parliament

LONDON (AFP, REUTERS) - Ukraine will defeat Russia and once again be a free country, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday (May 3) in an address to the Ukrainian parliament via videolink.

Johnson, who announced a further 300 million pounds (S$520 million) in military aid to Ukraine, including electronic warfare equipment and a counter-battery radar system, said Britain would continue to supply Ukraine.

"I have one message for you today: Ukraine will win, Ukraine will be free," Johnson said according to a transcript of the address provided by his office.

Johnson said that in its fight against Russia, Ukraine had "exploded the myth of (President Vladimir) Putin's invincibility".

"The so-called irresistible force of Putin's war machine has broken on the immovable object of Ukrainian patriotism and love of country," he said.

“This is Ukraine’s finest hour, that will be remembered and recounted for generations to come,” said Johnson, using a phrase first used by his hero Winston Churchill in a speech in 1940.

“We will carry on supplying Ukraine... with weapons, funding and humanitarian aid, until we have achieved our long-term goal, which must be so to fortify Ukraine that no-one will ever dare to attack you again,” he told Ukrainian lawmakers.

The new military support, which will include electronic warfare equipment, a counter battery radar system, GPS jamming equipment and thousands of night vision devices, is the latest defensive aid from London.

Last week, it announced plans to send Ukraine armoured vehicles able to fire missiles against invading Russian aircraft, on top of previous contributions that have included anti-tank missiles, air defence systems and tonnes of plastic explosives.

Britain will also dispatch in the coming weeks heavy lift Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems “to provide logistical support to isolated forces”, Johnson’s Downing Street office said ahead of the address.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen new specialised Toyota Landcruisers are headed to Ukraine to help protect civilian officials in the country’s east and evacuate people from frontline areas, it added.

The Kremlin has criticised Western countries as they step up donations of military hardware, saying they risk escalating the conflict and warning Russia has the right to respond to any direct interventions.

On the diplomatic front, Britain is also reopening its embassy in Kyiv, with its top envoy there Melinda Simmons telling British Sunday newspaper “The Observer” that it “feels like the right place to be”.

But the timing of his address, coming a month after Johnson met President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, was questioned by some British opposition politicians, who said it was a way of boosting his ratings ahead of local elections on Thursday.

Johnson’s spokesman denied it was an election stunt or a way of distracting attention from scandals over gatherings in Downing Street during a strict Covid-19 lockdown, saying the prime minister was determined to show his support for Ukraine.

Zelensky, present in the Ukrainian parliament for the first time since the war began, paid tribute to Britain’s support since the beginning of the war 10 weeks ago.

“During this time, Ukraine and Britain have gone from partners to friends and brothers, and the one who lied that he was a friend and brother has gone from being a neighbour to being an occupier and terrorist,” he said, referring to Russia.

“Is this sad? Yes. Is it frightening? No, it’s not frightening when beside you, you have a friend such as Britain and a leader such as Boris Johnson.”