Johnson says Putin making palpable progress in Donbass
UK's Johnson admits to Russian forces making palpableĀ progress, although slow, in east Ukraine's Donbass, pledging more military aid to Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is making modest but noticeable progress in east Ukraine's Donbass, according to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday.
"I'm afraid that Putin, at great cost to himself and to the Russian military, is continuing to chew through the ground in Donbass," he told Bloomberg UK.
"He's continuing to make gradual, slow, but I'm afraid palpable, progress and therefore it is absolutely vital that we continue to support the Ukrainians militarily."
Russia launched a "special military operation" to demilitarise and "de-nazify" Ukraine.
Johnson stated that Ukraine required more military assistance, especially multiple-launch rocket systems, and that the conflict must stop.
"The one way that it can end is for Putin to accept that ... the denazification of Ukraine has taken place and he's able to withdraw with dignity and honor," he said, however, this did not imply that he agreed with Russia's premise that Nazis existed in Ukraine.
"I think he has the political margin of maneuver to make an end to this," Johnson said.