LONDON (Realist English). The special operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine played into the hands of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, shifting the public’s attention from the scandal with the “covid” parties of the British government and reducing pressure on the Prime Minister to force him to resign, political commentator Robert Shrimsley notes in an article for the Financial Times.
“A month ago Johnson’s prospects looked bleak. Now he has time and renewed confidence to confound critics. His chance of leading his party into the next election is much improved. But he needs to retain the discipline forced on him by both his own emergency and the invasion, during what may be a painful and protracted aftermath. That will be less about soaring rhetoric than hard grind and immense focus. Government failings on sanctions and refugees point to a continuing inability to get a grip on the Whitehall machine. A new home secretary and a clarity of strategy might also help.” notes the British journalist.
Shrimsley does not overestimate the impact of London’s policy on the Ukrainian crisis:
“Talk of Britain leading diplomatic efforts is overdone — the Biden administration looks more to Paris and Berlin than London — but Ukrainians are fulsome in their praise for Johnson”.
On March 13, Johnson said that the UK would continue to search for opportunities to strengthen Ukraine’s self-defense. He added that London would cooperate with its partners on this issue, including within the framework of the meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force scheduled for March 15. It is a British-led naval cooperation program involving Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Estonia.
At the end of 2021, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson got into a serious scandal. At a time when the whole country was subject to strict anti-Covid restrictions, parties were held for his inner circle at his residence at 10, Downing Street.
