Boris Johnson, Ukraine’s ‘best friend’, farewells Kyiv with final trip

The destruction has cost Ukraine at least $113.5 billion, and it may need more than $200 billion to rebuild

Johnson became the first major world leader to travel to the country after the Russian invasion when he went by train to Kyiv in April. I returned in June. His latest visit coincided with US President Joe Biden announcing a record $3 billion arms package.

Zelensky said that Ukraine had a friend in Johnson that “not everyone is lucky enough to have”.

He was presented with the Order of Liberty – Ukraine’s highest award that can be given to foreign nationals – while Zelensky also unveiled a plaque for the UK prime minister on the “alley of bravery” outside the Ukrainian parliament.

But the British government remains concerned that European support for Ukraine’s battle against Russia could dry up amid the cost-of-living crisis, with diplomats traveling throughout the continent in the past few days to make the case against cutting aid to Kyiv.

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In the UK, the inflation rate is forecast to hit a 42-year high of 13.3 percent this year, while the economy is expected to shrink for more than a year.

European governments were said to be increasingly concerned about spending on arms and humanitarian supplies as citizens face rocketing energy prices.

“While people are paying energy bills, people in Ukraine are paying with blood,” he said.

Despite his unpopularity in Britain following a spate of sex and integrity scandal within his government, Johnson has won worldwide applause for unflinching support of Ukraine since Russia’s invasion.

In July, the mayor of Black Sea port city Odesa, made Johnson an honorary citizen. A number of Ukrainian towns and villages have already announced plans to unveil Boris Johnson streets, while a Kyiv cafe is serving a Boris Johnson croissant, complete with a vanilla ice cream topping in homage to his signature mop of blond hair.

His recognizable hairstyle is the subject of both gallery paintings and street art, where his name has been Ukrainianized to Boris Johnsonyuk. During Eurovision, the Ukrainian team dubbed him “our best friend”.

A poll published by UK peer Lord Ashcroft on June 28 gave Johnson a 90 percent favorability rating among Ukrainians, making him the most popular foreign politician in the country and placing him just 3 percent behind Zelensky. Support for Johnson was more than double that of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The Kremlin in return labeled Johnson as the Russian public enemy number one and “most anti-Russian leader” in the world.

Zelensky said the assistance from Britain, a “reliable partner” has helped bring victory closer.

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“And we will definitely win, we are sure of that. The victory of freedom in Ukraine is the victory of freedom in Europe,” he said.

“Prime Minister Johnson always said: what else can Britain do for Ukraine to win? I think this is the key meaning of relations between Great Britain and Ukraine, relations between our societies, friendly relations between us … We will definitely not lose with such friends.”

From the start of the war Johnson and Zelensky struck up a close personal friendship, regularly speaking by telephone, each praising the other’s bravery.

However, some of Johnson’s critics accused him of using their bond at times to distract from his own domestic woes.

Downing Street published details of Johnson’s phone calls with the Ukrainian president often during moments of maximum crisis for the prime minister.

They included less than an hour after it was announced that Lord Geidt had resigned as the Johnson’s ethics adviser, three hours after it was announced as confidence vote into his premiership, and the day Johnson was fined by Metropolitan Police over the so-called partygate scandal .

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