Until recently, it was highly sensitive and almost unthinkable in public contexts to point out that the war in Ukraine is effectively a proxy war between US-led NATO and Russia.
Anyone who argued that NATO was deliberately sacrificing the Ukrainian people to weaken Moscow was frequently labeled a “Putinist” or a “Moscow troll” – but now even former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson admits that the war should be seen as a proxy war.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph on Thursday, Johnson complained that Ukraine is not getting the weapons it needs “to do the job” against Russia and admitted that the West is primarily using Ukraine as a tool to fight Moscow.
– The problem has not been escalation; the problem has been the failure to escalate fast enough. It has been the dithering, the delay, and the nickel-and-diming of the [support] measures, he said, lamenting the stalemate in the US Congress in late 2023 and early 2024, which temporarily prevented arms shipments from flowing into Kiev.
– That was a nightmare for Ukraine.
Johnson is also very upset that it took so long for Western leaders to authorize Ukrainian strikes with Western long-range weapons deep inside Russian territory and says this should have happened much earlier.
– It has been pathetic… Let’s face it: We’re waging a proxy war but not giving our proxies the ability to do the job. For years now, we’ve been allowing them to fight with one hand tied behind their backs, and it has been cruel.
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— Ong BC (@OngBC7) November 29, 2024
Sabotaged peace talks?
In addition, Johnson wants Kiev to be given further opportunities to move closer to NATO, military support to be increased and more money to be sent to Zelensky. In addition, the international community, including Russia and Ukraine “has to know where we… want this thing to end up”.
– Until and unless we clear it up, you won’t persuade Putin to back down.
Moscow has repeatedly accused Boris Johnson of deliberately sabotaging the 2022 Istanbul peace talks by urging Kiev to continue fighting and close associates of Volodymyr Zelenskyj have also confirmed that the British ex-minister played a very influential role in the country’s decision-making.
Russia has also repeatedly pointed out that the West is using Ukraine as a “battering ram” against Russia, while warning that arms supplies will not change the outcome of the war. It has also warned that allowing attacks deep inside Russia with foreign-made long-range weapons would be a serious escalation and risk leading to nuclear war.
