Boris Johnson told the Ukrainian president tonight Green of his admiration for him and the courage of his people, as he promised further assistance as Russia continued to advance.
The Prime Minister described the resistance of Ukrainian citizens as “heroic” when they faced the arriving forces.
Mr Johnson also used the moment to reiterate his support for the United Kingdom, saying the international community needed to do more to isolate Russia.
Statement 10 said: “The Prime Minister is speaking with Ukrainian President Zelensky tonight.
“He paid tribute to the incredible heroism and courage of President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people.
“Leaders agreed that President Putin was met with more resistance from Ukraine than he had calculated.
“The Prime Minister briefed on the United Kingdom’s support for Ukraine and the progress made by bringing together international partners to hold Russia accountable for their campaign of destruction.
“The leaders agreed that the international community needed to isolate Russia completely diplomatically and financially. They welcomed the increased readiness to take action to exclude Russia from SWIFT.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with RAF military personnel Brize Norton in Oxfordshire to thank them for their ongoing work to facilitate military support for Ukraine and NATO.
Britain has vowed to continue supplying weapons to Ukraine’s military
Military personnel board a C17 aircraft at RAF Brize Norton tonight after the meeting
Locals were seen boarding an evacuation train heading to western Ukraine today
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Johnson and the United Kingdom for their support
Prime Minister and President Zelensky have expressed mutual concern over the role Belarus plays as a conduit for President Putin’s violence.
Mr Johnson spoke to him on the telephone shortly before being at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire to visit military personnel.
In the dark, he thanked them for their ongoing work to facilitate military support for Ukraine and NATO.
Britain has already pledged to continue supplying weapons to Ukraine’s armed forces.
So far, 2,000 anti-tank missiles have been sent, and Armed Forces Minister James Happy said the defense ministry is working on plans to support the resistance movement and the government in exile if Ukraine is finally captured.
Yesterday, Mr Johnson said Putin was on a “revanchist mission to repeal order after the Cold War”.
The prime minister said the Russian president was trying to return the watch to the Soviet Union.
He commented as he vowed to impose personal sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to repeat EU announcements.
Smoke rises from a Russian tank destroyed by Ukrainian forces along the road in Luhansk region today
A dramatic video shows a destroyed Z-marked Russian convoy near Kherson in southern Ukraine
In addition to the video of the destroyed convoy, another video allegedly shows the destruction of a Russian military convoy of 20 vehicles in Kharkov (pictured)
In an alarming sign, a video from Russia’s western border with Ukraine shows heavy TOS-1 flamethrowers moving toward a neighbor. Tanks are capable of firing high-power thermobaric weapons – called the “father of all bombs”
Putin called the end of the Soviet Union “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century”
The Russian leader has said many times that he suffered the same misery as his compatriots when the Soviet empire collapsed, recently claiming that he was forced to take a taxi to make ends meet when he returned to his homeland.
Putin says the end of the Soviet Union is “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century” – even though Russia is going through two world wars.
He called NATO enlargement “threatening” and said the prospect of Ukraine’s accession to the body was an existential threat to his country.
Since 1997, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Albania and Bulgaria have joined NATO. For Putin and his supporters, this is proof of the West’s rapprochement with Russia.
This was said by the Prime Minister NATO leaders at a virtual meeting on Friday that the UK will also impose restrictions announced by the EU to target the Russian leader.
Referring to Mr Putin’s desire to regain territory formerly part of the Soviet Union, he said Russia was “committed to a revanchist mission to restore order after the Cold War”.
Johnson told the Allies that “the UK will soon impose sanctions on President Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in addition to the package of sanctions that the UK announced yesterday,” according to a spokesman for number 10.
“He warned the group that the Russian president’s ambitions may not stop there and that this is a Euro-Atlantic crisis with global consequences,” he said.
The prime minister also used the meeting to call for “immediate action” on banning Russia from the Swift payment system in order to “inflict maximum pain” on the Kremlin.
The move to sanction President Putin and Mr Lavrov comes after the European Union said it was considering a similar move against the two men, as it set out its latest round of measures in agreement with the United States and the United Kingdom.
The government is facing criticism that it has not yet gone far enough, despite measures to strike five more oligarchs, and is targeting more than 100 companies and individuals.
As Russian forces continue to advance toward Kiev, besieged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said sanctions have so far done nothing to deter a Russian offensive.
Pictured: The tower in Kiev, just moments after it was hit by a Russian missile on Saturday morning
On Saturday morning, the upper floors of a building in Kiev were hit by a Russian missile (pictured). Reports indicate that at least two people were killed in the blast
Western officials, meanwhile, have warned that the Russians could resort to thermobaric weapons – used to generate powerful, high-temperature explosions – if Ukraine’s military resistance continues to hold back its attack.
Despite the start of Thursday’s attack, Russian forces have not yet captured any of the main settlements, and officials say they have failed to achieve most of their targets since the first day of the invasion.
One official noted that the Russians were known to have thermobaric weapons in their armaments and had used them in previous conflicts.
“I am afraid that if they do not meet their deadlines and goals, they will be indiscriminate in the use of violence,” the official said.
Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said “the world will hold Russia and Belarus accountable for their actions.”
Addressing a press briefing after a virtual meeting of NATO leaders, Stoltenberg said: “We call on Russia to stop this senseless war immediately.”
He warned that “the Kremlin’s goals are not limited to Ukraine” and that “we are facing a new norm in European security, with Russia openly challenging the European security order and using force to pursue its goals.”
He said: “President Putin’s decision to continue his aggression against Ukraine is a terrible strategic mistake.”
Mr Stoltenberg added that although significant sanctions had already been announced, “we must be prepared to do more, even if it means paying a price, because we have been in this for a long time”.
The secretary general said NATO had deployed thousands more troops to the east of the alliance and would “do whatever it takes to protect and defend every ally and every inch of NATO territory”.
The head of Britain’s defense intelligence, Lieutenant General Sir Jim Hockenhall, said that Russian forces continue to move towards Kiev on two lines of progress.
“Their goal is to surround the capital, ensure control over the population and change the regime,” he said. “The Ukrainian armed forces continue to offer strong resistance.”
Although sporadic fighting has been reported in the northern suburbs, most major Russian units were still thought to be more than 50 km away.
President Putin has stepped up his fiery rhetoric, calling on Ukrainian troops to lay down their arms, saying it would be easier for him to negotiate with them than “this gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis who hid in Kiev and took hostages all over Ukraine.” .
After the NATO meeting, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said it was clear that the Kremlin’s goals “are not limited to Ukraine”.
“We are facing a new norm in European security, in which Russia openly challenges the European security order and uses force to pursue its goals,” he said.
He said the alliance has thousands more troops in the eastern member states – who fear they could be the next target of Russian aggression – “will do whatever it takes to protect and defend every ally and every inch of territory.” NATO “.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has rejected calls for Britain to help build a no-fly zone over Ukraine, as Russian RAF fighter jets would provoke a “Europe-wide war”.
“He is trying to invade Ukraine. He will not stop after Ukraine. He will use everything in the Baltic countries. He does not believe that the Baltic States are really states, “Wallace told BBC Radio 4’s Today.
“And we will have to resist.” I cannot and will not provoke a European war now, but what I will do is help Ukraine fight every street with every piece of equipment we can get their hands on, and we will support them and this is the reality .’