Germany favoured quick Putin win in Ukraine, claims Boris Johnson

France was in denial about Russia invading Ukraine while Germany favoured a quick victory for Putin, Boris Johnson has claimed.

Boris Johnson with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv in August. Picture: AFP

France was in denial about Russia invading Ukraine while Germany favoured a quick victory for President Vladimir Putin, Boris Johnson has claimed.

The former British prime minister accused the EU powers of having initially adopted a “disastrous” approach to Russia’s aggression.

In an interview in Lisbon, Mr Johnson also failed to rule out a return to No. 10 and said his greatest mistake as leader had been not spending enough time with his MPs.

Mr Johnson adapted a line from the comedians Morecambe and Wise to make a gentle criticism of Liz Truss’s mini-budget. “It’s kind of like when I play the piano,” he said. “The notes individually sound perfectly OK, but they’re not in the right order or occurring at the right time. That might be my comment on some of the measures.”

Mr Johnson, talking about the early days of the war in Ukraine, told CNN Portugal: “This thing was a huge shock … we could see the Russian battalion tactical groups amassing, but different countries had very different perspectives. The German view was at one stage that if it were going to happen, which would be a disaster, then it would be better for the whole thing to be over quickly, and for Ukraine to fold.

“I couldn’t support that. I thought that was a disastrous way of looking at it. But I can understand why they thought and felt as they did. Be in no doubt that the French were in denial right up until the last moment.”

Steffen Hebestreit, a spokesman for the German government, said: “We know that the very entertaining former prime minister always has a unique relationship with the truth. This case is also no exception.”

Mr Johnson said that Italy, whose prime minister was then Mario Draghi, was “at one stage simply saying that they would be unable to support the position we were taking” because of their “massive” reliance on Russian energy.

But having altered its early approach “the EU has done brilliantly” in opposing Russia, Mr Johnson said. “What happened was everybody – Germans, French, Italians, everybody, Joe Biden – saw that there was simply no option. Because you couldn’t negotiate with this guy. That’s the key point,” he said. “I pay tribute to the way the EU has acted. They have been united. The sanctions were tough.”

He said membership of the EU “would be a good thing for Ukraine”, and “if Ukraine chooses to be a member of the EU, they should go for it”.

Mr Johnson credited President Volodymyr Zelensky with helping to stiffen Europe’s resolve. “He’s a very brave guy,” he said. “I think the history of this conflict would have been totally, totally different if he hadn’t been there.”

The Times