Future prime minister was condemned for arguing Brussels had ‘caused real trouble’ in Ukraine – in stark contrast to current stance
Boris Johnson blamed the EU for provoking Russia’s earlier attacks on Ukraine in 2014 and was branded a “Putin apologist” amid a storm of criticism.
The comments – made at the heart of the Brexit referendum battle, in 2016 – led to the future prime minister being likened to then Ukip leader Nigel Farage and being rebuked by Downing Street.
The current crisis has seen Mr Johnson arguing he is leading the West in confronting Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour, by sending weapons to Ukraine and demanding tough sanctions.
But, when leading the Brexit campaign, the then-Conservative backbencher took a very different stance over the annexation of Crimea and Putin’s arming of separatists in the east of Ukraine.
In a speech, he dismissed the EU as a “force for instability”, attacking its “pretensions to run a foreign policy and defence policy” – and claiming there was a direct link to Russia’s actions.
“If you want an example of EU policymaking on the hoof and EU pretensions to running defence policy that have caused real trouble, then look at what has happened in the Ukraine,’’ Mr Johnson said.“
All the EU can do in this question, in my view, is cause confusion and, as we’ve seen in the Balkans, I’m afraid a tragic incident, and in the Ukraine things went wrong as well.”
The speech was widely condemned, also drawing comparisons with the stance taken by the leader of France’s National Front, Marine Le Pen.
“If further evidence were needed about the careless disregard for our security demonstrated by Leave campaigners, by being a Putin apologist, Johnson has provided it,” said Jack Straw, the former Labour foreign secretary.
A No 10 spokesman criticised Mr Johnson’s comments, saying then-prime minister David Cameron was “clear that the illegal annexation of Crimea was brought about by Russia alone”.
The speech was a response to Mr Cameron raising the stakes in the Brexit battle with a claim that the UK leaving the EU could increase the risk of a European war.
He had said: “Can we be so sure that peace and stability on our continent are assured beyond any shadow of doubt? Is that a risk worth taking? I would never be so rash as to make that assumption.”
Mr Johnson hit back, saying: “I think it is very, very curious that the prime minister is now calling this referendum and warning us that world war three is about to break out unless we vote to remain.
In 2022, Mr Farage has continued to blame the West for the current invasion of Ukraine, arguing the attack was caused by Nato and the EU trying to “poke the Russian bear with a stick”.
Admitting he had been wrong to dismiss warnings of an invasion, the former Brexit party leader nevertheless pointed to the expansion of the Western military alliance and the EU as the cause.
Further proof, if it was needed, that he has no opinions of his own and says whatever he thinks will win him the current arguement
His rise to power was funded by Russian oligarchs. He is completely compromised and should resign immediately.
Nice to see they haven’t forgotten this important detail.
Johnson is a 24 karat fraud (his first name isn’t even Boris and he was born in New York for crying out loud).
He’d say and do anything if he felt it would get him into power. He might have made a few good calls recently (and I reserve judgement on that one, he has a track record at this point of seemingly on the right path only to either blow it down the line or reveal it was all a lie) but lets not forget how much Russian money he’s been swimming in.
I remember conversing with loads of Brexiters who’d swallowed this tripe and were adamant that the EU were provoking Russia to war and it was absolutely nothing to do with NATO. No sir.
Other than the outright loonies who use the Daily Express as their guide, it’s gone a bit quiet on that dimension.
What does Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn, Nigel Farage, Aaron Banks, and George Galloway all have in coming:
They supported Brexit and are Putin apologist.
What are the chances?
*Edit: On Corbyn as the downvotes show this needs clarification (and I’m not pro Tory, check my history), he voted remain but that’s not what he wants:*
> In 2015, he told Reuters that he voted against Britain’s membership of the trade bloc’s forerunner, the European Economic Community, when Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson put the question to a public ballot in 1975.
> In November 2017, Labour whipped MPs to vote against a parliamentary amendment to keep the UK in the single market and customs union.
> Yet in January 2018, he asserted that Labour was “not supporting or calling for a second referendum.”
We all know he’s got putins pubic hairs in his teeth. Just sitting here waiting for the cost of *living* to kill the anonymous public
The Independent needs banning like the rest of the Russian media outlets for trying to divide instead of unifying like western media. No surprise since it’s run by the son of an ex-KGB agent.
Either he will claim to have changed, with no evidence to back that claim up, or he will claim he was taken out of context and this is an attempt to smear him. Whatever he says, it will not be the truth.
Let’s turn an international crisis into a chance to make internal political points….classy….
His party is getting about £5mil donation from Russians so he ain’t leaving that gravy train
Is he losing money out of this ? I live US and alot of our poltions are pooping thier pants losing money on Russia is it the same there?
He and Trump need to be shoved in a plane and dropped over Moscow. They are assets by position and agents by their actions.
Johnson blames the EU for everything. All that wine and cheese at his 27 work parties was from the EU.. I’m amazed he hasn’t worked out a way to spin his crime spree as the fault of Europe.
Was it the E.U. on the grassy knoll for Euromaidan? Or was it the U.S. again, it’s their M.O. after all.
Doesn’t matter either way, Johnson is compromised by Russia, and hopefully nobody will have time for his bluster anymore now things are getting serious.
That frog faced fascist Farage did exactly the same last week.
Honestly shocked the UK didn’t align itself with Russia last week, considering how much they’ve spent on making Alex here the PM.
Boris is not your friend but seems ever inclined to dis the UK, use weasel word (look it up) and he has partied while you all sucked weak coffee rather than strong tea.
Weasel. A weasel with weasel words … anyone older than 15 should know how to read his weasel words.
He so strongly stands with the Ukraine… as long as he can party on
Question: How much money bought British pride?
Asking for their cousin.
Him and farage could do with a investigation about Russian influence in regard to brexit
Boris you have literally spent the majority of your time fucking up your job, don’t start criticising the EU in dumbways now just because you’re under pressure.
I get that pressure can hurt but just be careful what you do when under said pressure
It’s not a marvel movie and it’s not black and white. Nato has been expanding eastwards and buying countries along the way which they have been housing nukes and anti ballistic missile systems in.
Russia has been trying to stop this for decades and everyone who isn’t mindless cattle knows this. No they shouldn’t have invaded, but you can absolutely understand why they feel that their hand has been forced
So 8 years and fucking war isn’t allowed to change someone’s opinion?
Look at all of his “hard talk” on Ukraine now, it’s designed to make the EU look bad.
It’s obvious to anyone this is a way to distract from partygate
Not fond of the term but that article was a big fat nothing burger. Seems about right coming from a newspaper owned by the Russian oligarch who bought Johnson a long time ago.
No one else find it funny Russian oligarch ran The Independent is so critical of Oligarch money taker Johnson. Also /r/uk’s favourite news source is Oligarch ran The Independent.
Even a broken clock can be right sometimes though.
My friend has a conspiracy type theory that Russia funded Brexit to weaken the UK to eventually invade lmao
Trump was practically begging the Russians to hack the US election in 16; Farage and a whole bunch of the Brexit crowd have dodgy links.
But there’s a lot of people who tied their mast to Russian backed mis/disinformation and had a shared politics of pro-capital, social conservatism, nationalism/anti-globalisation, and authoritianism who should, but won’t, be taking a long look in the mirror. Johnson is one of them of them, but don’t be surprised if the snake is recasting himself as the protector of liberalism and European cosmopolitanism now that he’s ridden the former wave as far as it can go.
Oligarchs ass lickers should get refugee status in Siberia.
Johnson has sanctioned only 8 oligarchs since the war started.
36 comments
Future prime minister was condemned for arguing Brussels had ‘caused real trouble’ in Ukraine – in stark contrast to current stance
Boris Johnson blamed the EU for provoking Russia’s earlier attacks on Ukraine in 2014 and was branded a “Putin apologist” amid a storm of criticism.
The comments – made at the heart of the Brexit referendum battle, in 2016 – led to the future prime minister being likened to then Ukip leader Nigel Farage and being rebuked by Downing Street.
The current crisis has seen Mr Johnson arguing he is leading the West in confronting Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour, by sending weapons to Ukraine and demanding tough sanctions.
But, when leading the Brexit campaign, the then-Conservative backbencher took a very different stance over the annexation of Crimea and Putin’s arming of separatists in the east of Ukraine.
In a speech, he dismissed the EU as a “force for instability”, attacking its “pretensions to run a foreign policy and defence policy” – and claiming there was a direct link to Russia’s actions.
“If you want an example of EU policymaking on the hoof and EU pretensions to running defence policy that have caused real trouble, then look at what has happened in the Ukraine,’’ Mr Johnson said.“
All the EU can do in this question, in my view, is cause confusion and, as we’ve seen in the Balkans, I’m afraid a tragic incident, and in the Ukraine things went wrong as well.”
The speech was widely condemned, also drawing comparisons with the stance taken by the leader of France’s National Front, Marine Le Pen.
“If further evidence were needed about the careless disregard for our security demonstrated by Leave campaigners, by being a Putin apologist, Johnson has provided it,” said Jack Straw, the former Labour foreign secretary.
A No 10 spokesman criticised Mr Johnson’s comments, saying then-prime minister David Cameron was “clear that the illegal annexation of Crimea was brought about by Russia alone”.
The speech was a response to Mr Cameron raising the stakes in the Brexit battle with a claim that the UK leaving the EU could increase the risk of a European war.
He had said: “Can we be so sure that peace and stability on our continent are assured beyond any shadow of doubt? Is that a risk worth taking? I would never be so rash as to make that assumption.”
Mr Johnson hit back, saying: “I think it is very, very curious that the prime minister is now calling this referendum and warning us that world war three is about to break out unless we vote to remain.
In 2022, Mr Farage has continued to blame the West for the current invasion of Ukraine, arguing the attack was caused by Nato and the EU trying to “poke the Russian bear with a stick”.
Admitting he had been wrong to dismiss warnings of an invasion, the former Brexit party leader nevertheless pointed to the expansion of the Western military alliance and the EU as the cause.
Further proof, if it was needed, that he has no opinions of his own and says whatever he thinks will win him the current arguement
His rise to power was funded by Russian oligarchs. He is completely compromised and should resign immediately.
Nice to see they haven’t forgotten this important detail.
Johnson is a 24 karat fraud (his first name isn’t even Boris and he was born in New York for crying out loud).
He’d say and do anything if he felt it would get him into power. He might have made a few good calls recently (and I reserve judgement on that one, he has a track record at this point of seemingly on the right path only to either blow it down the line or reveal it was all a lie) but lets not forget how much Russian money he’s been swimming in.
I remember conversing with loads of Brexiters who’d swallowed this tripe and were adamant that the EU were provoking Russia to war and it was absolutely nothing to do with NATO. No sir.
Other than the outright loonies who use the Daily Express as their guide, it’s gone a bit quiet on that dimension.
What does Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn, Nigel Farage, Aaron Banks, and George Galloway all have in coming:
They supported Brexit and are Putin apologist.
What are the chances?
*Edit: On Corbyn as the downvotes show this needs clarification (and I’m not pro Tory, check my history), he voted remain but that’s not what he wants:*
> In 2015, he told Reuters that he voted against Britain’s membership of the trade bloc’s forerunner, the European Economic Community, when Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson put the question to a public ballot in 1975.
> In November 2017, Labour whipped MPs to vote against a parliamentary amendment to keep the UK in the single market and customs union.
> Yet in January 2018, he asserted that Labour was “not supporting or calling for a second referendum.”
[From here](https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-corbyns-changing-brexit-stance)
We all know he’s got putins pubic hairs in his teeth. Just sitting here waiting for the cost of *living* to kill the anonymous public
The Independent needs banning like the rest of the Russian media outlets for trying to divide instead of unifying like western media. No surprise since it’s run by the son of an ex-KGB agent.
Either he will claim to have changed, with no evidence to back that claim up, or he will claim he was taken out of context and this is an attempt to smear him. Whatever he says, it will not be the truth.
Russia and the EU – [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2AE02yZyY8&t=4390s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2AE02yZyY8&t=4390s)
Timothy Snyder and Peter Pomerantsev at the 2014 OSCE session in Geneva.
He was and is a Putin apologist. He is simply angry Putin lied to him this time and it’s a great way to escape the corruption allegations
Face it, Johnson would argue black was white if he thought he’d get five more minutes of TV time.
Ahh ye old EU.
Forever the scapegoat of Tory failures.
Just point at Jonny foreigner and the mob will do the rest
Carole Cadwalladr described things well in this thread https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/1498056686548013062?s=21
Let’s turn an international crisis into a chance to make internal political points….classy….
His party is getting about £5mil donation from Russians so he ain’t leaving that gravy train
Is he losing money out of this ? I live US and alot of our poltions are pooping thier pants losing money on Russia is it the same there?
He and Trump need to be shoved in a plane and dropped over Moscow. They are assets by position and agents by their actions.
Johnson blames the EU for everything. All that wine and cheese at his 27 work parties was from the EU.. I’m amazed he hasn’t worked out a way to spin his crime spree as the fault of Europe.
Was it the E.U. on the grassy knoll for Euromaidan? Or was it the U.S. again, it’s their M.O. after all.
Doesn’t matter either way, Johnson is compromised by Russia, and hopefully nobody will have time for his bluster anymore now things are getting serious.
That frog faced fascist Farage did exactly the same last week.
Honestly shocked the UK didn’t align itself with Russia last week, considering how much they’ve spent on making Alex here the PM.
Boris is not your friend but seems ever inclined to dis the UK, use weasel word (look it up) and he has partied while you all sucked weak coffee rather than strong tea.
Weasel. A weasel with weasel words … anyone older than 15 should know how to read his weasel words.
He so strongly stands with the Ukraine… as long as he can party on
Question: How much money bought British pride?
Asking for their cousin.
Him and farage could do with a investigation about Russian influence in regard to brexit
Boris you have literally spent the majority of your time fucking up your job, don’t start criticising the EU in dumbways now just because you’re under pressure.
I get that pressure can hurt but just be careful what you do when under said pressure
It’s not a marvel movie and it’s not black and white. Nato has been expanding eastwards and buying countries along the way which they have been housing nukes and anti ballistic missile systems in.
Russia has been trying to stop this for decades and everyone who isn’t mindless cattle knows this. No they shouldn’t have invaded, but you can absolutely understand why they feel that their hand has been forced
So 8 years and fucking war isn’t allowed to change someone’s opinion?
Look at all of his “hard talk” on Ukraine now, it’s designed to make the EU look bad.
It’s obvious to anyone this is a way to distract from partygate
Not fond of the term but that article was a big fat nothing burger. Seems about right coming from a newspaper owned by the Russian oligarch who bought Johnson a long time ago.
No one else find it funny Russian oligarch ran The Independent is so critical of Oligarch money taker Johnson. Also /r/uk’s favourite news source is Oligarch ran The Independent.
Even a broken clock can be right sometimes though.
https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1498491120573054981
My friend has a conspiracy type theory that Russia funded Brexit to weaken the UK to eventually invade lmao
Trump was practically begging the Russians to hack the US election in 16; Farage and a whole bunch of the Brexit crowd have dodgy links.
But there’s a lot of people who tied their mast to Russian backed mis/disinformation and had a shared politics of pro-capital, social conservatism, nationalism/anti-globalisation, and authoritianism who should, but won’t, be taking a long look in the mirror. Johnson is one of them of them, but don’t be surprised if the snake is recasting himself as the protector of liberalism and European cosmopolitanism now that he’s ridden the former wave as far as it can go.
Oligarchs ass lickers should get refugee status in Siberia.
Johnson has sanctioned only 8 oligarchs since the war started.