London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Nov 05, 2025

What is Boris Johnson's goal on Ukraine?

What is Boris Johnson's goal on Ukraine?

The G7 summit here in Bavaria, and the one to follow of the Nato military alliance in Madrid, can be summarised like this: Ukraine.

What to do about Ukraine, for how long, at what cost and with what consequences?

The consequences are profound, for Ukrainians, of course, but also too for geopolitics, European stability, the values of liberal democracy and the implications for the world economy.

The prime minister has sought here to emphasise the UK's long term commitment to Ukraine.

So when I met him for an interview at the summit venue, Schloss Elmau, overlooking the stunning Wetterstein mountains in the Bavarian Alps, I tried to find out what that might mean.

What is Boris Johnson's bottom line with Ukraine? Is it the expulsion of Russian forces so Ukraine's borders of six months ago are re-established?

The implication of what he has said recently would imply that, but he stopped short of saying so explicitly.

"You can't be more Ukrainian than the Ukrainians," he said, but did add: "I think it's for Volodymyr Zelensky and his people to decide what they want and what they want is their land."

He tried to place the conflict in its historical context to justify its vast cost, comparing this contemporary war with the defeat of Nazi Germany.

"It took a long time. It was very expensive, but it brought decades and decades of stability, a world order that relied on a rules-based international system and that is worth protecting, that is worth defending delivers long term prosperity," he said.

He put no timeline and no budget on the UK's support, merely saying "strategic endurance is very important".

And here's the crux of this: a prime minister trying to square what he sees as a defence of British values on the world stage, with the domestic implications and costs of that very decision.

And while the G7 and Nato will give the outward impression of unity this week - the prime minister and French President Emmanuel Macron had a night cap whisky late last night and "patched things up", I'm told - the long term question still looms.

How does the conflict end, when, and what do Ukraine's borders look like at that point? And between now and then, how fractured does the Western alliance look?

There is talk here of an Anglo-French summit in the coming months.

This, after concern within the British government that the French were "leading the peloton", as one Whitehall source put it to me when it came to considering a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine sooner rather than later - and so accepting the loss of some Ukrainian territory to Moscow.

And from the international, to the domestic.

Bluntly, how long Boris Johnson will be in the job?

This is one of the longest stints out of the country Boris Johnson has done as prime minister - eight days.

And the questions about his future do not go away, here or back home.

Yes, reporters like me ask him about it frequently.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has dominated proceedings of the G7 summit in Germany


But that is because it is a live discussion among his own MPs, from the cabinet down.

Yet again, on questions of his character and conduct, so often the central criticism levelled at him by those within his party and beyond who want rid of him, he ducked engaging directly.

I suggested that when talks about seeking a third term, and carrying on until the 2030s, it was if he was putting his fingers in his ears to ignore the criticisms.

Again and again, he instead seeks to talk about policy - a shopping list of aspirations for the future.

They are big aspirations and things millions of people will hope he can make happen.

But the crucial thing now is whether he has the authority to deliver them, when at least 40% of his MPs have lost faith in him.

He, as you would expect, insists he does.

He ended our interview insisting he has not considered giving up, saying being prime minister is a "huge, huge privilege" and "nobody abandons a privilege like that".

But plenty of prime ministers have either chosen or been forced to do exactly that: think Margaret Thatcher, David Cameron, Theresa May.

Mr Johnson's internal critics want to add him to that list, but have an opponent defiant and determined to carry on.

And not always bound by the conventions of his predecessors.


The UK PM compares standing up to Nazi Germany with today's war after Russia invaded Ukraine.


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Spoilers Emerge from MAFS UK 2025: Couple Swaps, Dating App Leaks and Reunion Bombshells
Kurdish-led Crime Network Operates UK Mini-Marts to Exploit Migrants and Sell Illicit Goods
UK Income Tax Hike Could Trigger £1 Billion Cut to Scotland’s Budget, Warns Finance Secretary
Tommy Robinson Acquitted of Terror-related Charge After Phone PIN Dispute
Boris Johnson Condemns Western Support for Hamas at Jewish Community Conference
HII Welcomes UK’s Westley Group to Strengthen AUKUS Submarine Supply Chain
Tragedy in Serbia: Coach Mladen Žižović Collapses During Match and Dies at 44
Diplo Says He Dated Katy Perry — and Justin Trudeau
Dick Cheney, Former U.S. Vice President, Dies at 84
Trump Calls Title Removal of Andrew ‘Tragic Situation’ Amid Royal Fallout
UK Bonds Rally as Chancellor Reeves Briefs Markets Ahead of November Budget
UK Report Backs Generational Smoking Ban Ahead of Tobacco & Vapes Bill Review
UK’s Domino’s Pizza Group Reports Modest Like-for-Like Sales Growth in Q3
UK Supplies Additional Storm Shadow Missiles to Ukraine as Trump Alleges Russian Underground Nuclear Tests
High-Profile Broodmare Puca Sells for Five Million Dollars at Fasig-Tipton ‘Night of the Stars’
Wilt Chamberlain’s One-of-a-Kind ‘Searcher 1’ Supercar Heads to Auction
Erling Haaland’s Remarkable Run: 13 Premier League Goals in 10 Matches and Eyes on History
UK Labour Peer Warns of Emerging ‘Constituency for Hating Jews’ in Britain
UK Home Secretary Admits Loss of Border Control, Warns Public Trust at Risk
President Trump Expresses Sympathy for UK Royal Family After Title Stripping of Prince Andrew
Former Prince Andrew to Lose His Last Military Title as King Charles Moves to End His Public Role
King Charles Relocates Andrew to Sandringham Estate and Strips Titles Amid Epstein Fallout
Two Arrested After Mass Stabbing on UK Train Leaves Ten Hospitalised
Glamour UK Says ‘Stay Mad Jo x’ After Really Big Rowling Backlash
Former Prince Prince Andrew Faces Possible U.S. Congressional Appearance Over Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry
UK Faces £20 Billion Productivity Shortfall as Brexit’s Impact Deepens
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Eyes New Council-Tax Bands for High-Value Homes
UK Braces for Major Storm with Snow, Heavy Rain and Winds as High as 769 Miles Wide
U.S. Secures Key Southeast Asia Agreements to Reshape Rare Earth Supply Chains
US and China Agree One-Year Trade Truce After Trump-Xi Talks
BYD Profit Falls 33 % as Chinese EV Maker Doubles Down on Overseas Markets
US Philanthropists Shift Hundreds of Millions to UK to Evade Regulatory Uncertainty in Trump Era
Israeli Energy Minister Delays $35 Billion Gas Export Agreement with Egypt
King Charles Strips Prince Andrew of Titles and Royal Residence
Trump–Putin Budapest Summit Cancelled After Moscow Memo Raises Conditions for Ukraine Talks
Amazon Shares Soar 11% as Cloud Business Hits Fastest Growth Since 2022
Credit Markets Flooded with More Than $200 Billion of AI-Linked Debt Issuance
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Says China Made 'a Real Mistake' by Threatening Rare-Earth Exports
Report Claims Nearly Two Billion Dollars in Foreign Charity Funds Flowed into U.S. Advocacy Groups
White House Refutes Reports That US Targeting Military Sites in Venezuela
Meta Seeks Dismissal of Strike 3’s $350 Million Copyright Lawsuit
Apple Exceeds Forecasts With $102.5 Billion Q3 Revenue Despite iPhone Miss
Israel's IDF Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi Admits to Act Amounting to Aiding Hamas During Wartime (Treason)
Shawbrook IPO Marks London’s Biggest UK Listing in Two Years
UK Government Split Over Backing Brazil’s $125 Billion Tropical Forest Fund Ahead of COP30
J.K. Rowling Condemns Glamour UK Feature of Nine Trans Women as 'Men Better at Being Women'
King Charles III Removes Prince Andrew’s Titles and Orders His Departure from Royal Lodge
UK Finance Minister Reeves Releases Email Correspondence to Clarify Rental-Licence Breach
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
×