British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is the first foreign head of government to address the Ukrainian parliament about the war in the country. He expressed his support for the Ukrainians via video link and said the British would provide them with an additional £300 million in military aid.
“I have a message for you: Ukraine will win, Ukraine will be free,” the prime minister said. He also criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin. Johnson also gave the parliament courage.
“This is Ukraine’s best moment, an epic chapter in your story that will be remembered and told for generations,” he said. “Your children and grandchildren will say that Ukrainians have taught the world that the brute force of an aggressor does not affect the moral strength of a people determined to be free.”
Johnson seems to be referring to former Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In 1940, after the fall of France, he said that the British had to resist Nazi Germany and that this would later come to be known as “their best moment”. Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky himself also referred to a war speech by Churchill when he addressed parliament in London two months ago.
The United Kingdom has taken a strong stand against Russia over the war in Ukraine and is trying to help the government in Kyiv. Johnson visited Kyiv last month, where he met Zelensky. The prime minister then promised more sanctions against Russia and more weapons for Ukraine. Zelensky then stated that other countries should follow the British example.