MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/. British former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s visit to Kiev is a PR stunt meant to draw attention to himself following the meeting of Western defense ministers at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, which yielded poor results for Ukraine, Rodion Miroshnik, former ambassador of the Lugansk People’s Republic to Moscow, told TASS on Sunday.
Friday’s meeting at Ramstein Air Base focused on further assistance to Kiev but yielded no decision on supplies of US and German tanks Kiev had insisted on.
On Sunday, Johnson visited Ukraine and met with President Vladimir Zelensky.
"It looks like Johnson has decided to draw attention to himself when the chair under [current British PM Rishi] Sunak has staggered. Kiev is being used as a tool to show the ambitions for another British premiership or for the leadership in other international organizations, for instance, for NATO secretary general’s office. Amid Ramstein’s failure, Boris has decided to recall that he is a hawk and is ready to be back in politics," Mirsohnik said.
At the same time, he noted that according to the video of Johnson’s meeting with the Ukrainian leadership that was posted on Zelensky’s Telegram channel, the meeting was not attended by a number of politicians, who typically take part in such event, for instance Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov and Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Alexey Danilov. "Many, who typically take part, are absent: Reznikov, Danilov… But some unknown persons, who more look like extras, are present," Mirsohnik noted.
The Guardian said earlier this week that Johnson planned to visit Ukraine within days to meet with President Zelensky. According to the newspaper, this visit may undermine the authority of the current prime minister and the Conservative Party leader, Rishi Sunak. After the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, Johnson visited Kiev three times while he was still in office. His latest visit took place in late August, shortly before his resignation. According to a Guardian interviewee, Johnson is seeking to position himself as Ukraine’s key ally in global arena in a bid to be back in power like Winston Churchill.