Boris Johnson promised Putin that Ukraine would remain outside of NATO – Daily Express

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly attempted to assure Russian President Vladimir Putin in the fall of 2021 that Ukraine would not join NATO in the foreseeable future.

This information was reported by “Daily Express”, citing the book “The War” by American journalist Bob Woodward.

According to the book, during a phone conversation in the fall of 2021, Johnson told Putin, “You have no reason to invade Ukraine. Ukraine is not going to join NATO anytime soon.” Putin then asked for clarification on the timeline, to which Johnson replied, “The reality is that Ukraine will not join in the near future.”

Woodward suggests that Johnson believed Putin wanted Western leaders to make such statements publicly. However, Johnson also felt that making public declarations that NATO’s doors were closed to new members would be seen as “an admission of defeat.”

The conversation with Putin reportedly took place after the G20 summit in October 2021. Around this time, Johnson and other leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and her future successor Olaf Scholz, were allegedly briefed by U.S. President Joe Biden about the movement of Russian troops toward the Ukrainian border.