British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks to the media after arriving at RAF Brize Norton after a surprise visit to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine, to offer a major training operation he believes which could “change the equation” against the Russian. invasion, in Oxfordshire, Great Britain, June 18, 2022.
Joe Giddens | Reuters
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stressed on Saturday that citizens must maintain their support for Ukraine after almost four months of war.
“Our concern is that some Ukrainian fatigue is beginning to emerge around the world,” Johnson told reporters after a trip to Kyiv. “It’s very important to show that we are with them in the long term and we are giving them the strategic resilience they need.”
Johnson made his second surprise trip to the Ukrainian capital on Friday. The British government, in a show of support, offered Ukraine a military training program that could train up to 10,000 soldiers every 120 days. Johnson’s office said it would “fundamentally change the equation of war.”
Johnson’s visit comes just after French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to offer support for Ukraine to become an EU candidate.
The European Commission is expected to grant candidate status to Ukraine at a summit next week after the European Commission recommended the move on Friday. However, it will probably be years before EU member states can approve Kyiv’s accession to the bloc.
All this comes as Ukraine continues to fight for its own territory. The UK Ministry of Defense said on Saturday that Russia had probably renewed its efforts to advance south of Izium in the past 48 hours, hoping to advance further into Donetsk Oblast and surround Sievierodonetsk from north. The industrial city is a major target in the Kremlin’s efforts to take full control of the eastern Luhansk region.
‘We will definitely win!’
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, awards a Ukrainian military service outside the southern city of Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on June 18, 2022.
Presidential Press Service of Ukraine Reuters
Zelenskyy visited soldiers on the southern front line in the Mykolaiv region on Saturday on an unannounced visit, according to the New York Times.
The president last month began gathering troops at the front across the war-torn nation.
“Our brave men and women. Each of them is working smoothly,” he told his official Telegram account. “We’ll definitely hold on! We’ll definitely win!”