Boris Johnson is set to tell international leaders “the world is watching” as he urges them to match rhetoric with action over Russia’s invasion with Ukraine. The Prime Minister will set out a six-point plan on Sunday, which he hopes global counterparts will accept, as Russian leader Vladimir Putin moved the goalposts over the West’s engagement in the conflict in Ukraine.
Mr Johnson said that “it is not future historians but the people of Ukraine who will be our judge” over how the world reacts to Mr Putin’s “hideous, barbarous assault”. Ahead of a swathe of meetings in coming days, Mr Johnson said: “Putin must fail and must be seen to fail in this act of aggression. It is not enough to express our support for the rules-based international order – we must defend it against a sustained attempt to rewrite the rules by military force.”
Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned the Kremlin not to underestimate the West. In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Wallace said allies “must not be afraid of Putin”. He warned the Russian leader – who he said was “acting irrationally and inflicting horrors on Ukraine” – not to “test” the UK.
