Boris Johnson urges west to call out Putin's 'bluff' and provide Ukraine with tanks

Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the west to ignore Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threat and provide Ukraine with tanks and other weaponry amid the raging Russia-Ukraine war.

On Thursday, Johnson addressed a gathering at the World Economic Forum (WEF). He appeared on a breakfast panel of the event which is being organised at Davos, Switzerland. The gathering was also addressed virtually by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who made similar demands from the west. 

During the panel, the former British PM stated that the West should call out Putin’s bluff. Commenting on the possibility of the Russia-Ukraine war going nuclear, Johnson exclaimed, “Nonsense”.

“He is not going to use nuclear weapons”, he said. “People argue that we should not escalate and should be wary of doing things that further provoke Putin,” Johnson said. He then went on to add, “How can we escalate against a guy who is doing all-out war against a civilian population?”

The push from Johnson came after the United Kingdom announced that it will be sending the mighty Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine in an effort to help the war-stricken country to win the war against Russia. The former British PM insisted, “What we’ve got to focus on is supporting Ukraine and giving Volodymyr Zelenskiy the tools he needs to finish the job”. “Give them the tanks. There’s absolutely nothing to be lost,” he added. 

Zelenskyy urges western allies to send tanks

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his frustration over the war. In the virtual address, the Ukrainian President urged the Western allies to send more ammunition that will help the struggling country to deal with the war. “The supply of Ukraine with air defense systems must outpace Russia’s vast missile attacks. The supplies of Western tanks must outpace another invasion of Russian tanks,” Zelenskyy said.

The breakfast panel where Johnson gave out his assertion and where Zelenskyy also made his case was attended by other world leaders as well. The leaders also included US Sen. Chris Coons, and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Thanking the western allies for their support in the war, the Ukrainian President asserted, “I would like to thank again for the assistance from our partners.” He then went on to add, “But at the same time, there are times where we shouldn’t hesitate or we shouldn’t compare when someone says, ‘I will give tanks if someone else will also share his tanks.’” The UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is also eying to persuade US and Canada to follow the British lead.