Ukrainian government comments on UK's former PM Johnson's "peace plan"

Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, stated that the "peace proposals" of former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson, which have been the subject of heated debates in Ukraine, reflect his personal views.

As reported by Interfax-Ukraine, according to Stefanishyna, Johnson "acts solely on his own initiative, these are his own thoughts."

"We should appreciate his courage, because on his own initiative he met with Trump. He tried to explain the situation in Ukraine. Such a voice is very valuable because it has authority, recognition and communication with colleagues from the Republican Party," she said.

According to her, Johnson's proposals are intended to "create a field for discussion."

"He acts in the best interests of Ukraine and can afford it, because he knows the position of our president and the position of Ukrainians," added Stefanishyna in a conversation with reporters.

On 16 July, Boris Johnson met with US presidential candidate Donald Trump to discuss the latest developments in Ukraine. After that he unveiled a peace plan that could end the war "on the right terms for Ukraine and the West".

His vision is for Kyiv to recover control of the territory it controlled as of 24 February 2022, in which case the US will provide the country with all required armaments and will not prevent its further NATO membership. Furthermore, the Ukrainian military may eventually replace the American troops in Europe.

In exchange, Russia is promised specific guarantees of "protection of Russophones" in Ukraine, as well as the chance of rejoining the Group of Seven and possible normalisation of relations with NATO. Johnson believes Trump is capable of carrying out this strategy.

Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a phone conversation with US presidential candidate Donald Trump, during which the latter said he wanted to bring Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table and "bring peace to the world."