The unusual Foreign Office revelation on Saturday night that British intelligence had unmasked a plot to install a Russian puppet government in Ukraine was issued alongside a lengthy release from Downing Street in effect claiming Boris Johnson was now at the helm of an anti-Russian alliance.
The release said a deeply engaged Johnson was being briefed daily on the crisis, had ramped up the Whitehall response and was willing to engage directly with Vladimir Putin. It also touted his close personal friendship with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and the number of calls he had made to world leaders in recent days.
