Boris Johnson
(Picture: PA)Boris Johnson has told President Volodymyr Zelensky that that he will use a top-level meeting of Nato leaders this week to “advance Ukraine’s interests” as Vladimir Putin’s troops commit more “abhorrent attacks”.
The Prime Minister also stressed that Britain would be stepping up its economic, military and diplomatic efforts to help Ukraine and to seek to bring the war to an end.
It comes as the United Nations estimated that the conflict, now in its 25th day, had driven 10 million Ukrainians from their homes.
“The Prime Minister outlined the UK’s ongoing commitment to work alongside international partners to coordinate support to strengthen Ukraine’s self-defence,” Downing Street said in a statement on Sunday.
“Both leaders stressed the continued importance of sanctions in exerting pressure on Putin, and they condemned the abhorrent attacks on innocent civilians, following the appalling bombings in Mariupol,” it said.
I spoke to President @ZelenskyyUa this afternoon to set out how I will be working to advance Ukraine’s interests at meetings of NATO and the G7 this week.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) March 20, 2022
The UK will continue to step up military, economic and diplomatic support to help bring an end to this terrible conflict.
“The Prime Minister expressed his admiration for the bravery of Ukraine and was clear that the UK was committed to stepping up military, economic and diplomatic support in order to help bring an end to this terrible conflict.
“The two leaders agreed to step up their direct communication even further in the days to come.”
Western allies are continuing to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by imposing sanctions on the Putin regime, but are not bowing to pressure to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, fearing this would be seen as an “act of war” between Russia and the West.
US President Joe Biden is set to travel to Brussels this week for a Nato summit.
He was invited by a Ukrainian official to visit Kyiv during his trip to Europe, but White House press secretary Jen Psaki said there were “no plans” for the US leader to do so.
“The trip will be focused on continuing to rally the world in support of the Ukrainian people and against President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine,” she said.
“There are no plans to travel into Ukraine.”
US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said earlier Sunday that Mr Biden visiting Ukraine was “not on the table”.
Ukraine’s President is continuing with efforts to rally global support by speaking to Israeli MPs on Sunday afternoon.
Mr Zelensky quoted the late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, by saying: “We intend to live, but our neighbours want to see us dead” during a televised address.
He also urged lawmakers to abandon Israel’s neutrality and asked for weapons to be sent to fight Russian forces.
Ukraine’s president accused Vladimir Putin of trying to carry out a “final solution” against Ukraine - using the Nazi term for its genocide of six million Jews during the Second World War.
Mr Zelensky, who himself is Jewish, also noted that a Russian missile slammed into Babi Yar - the spot of a notorious Nazi massacre in 1941 that now hosts Ukraine’s main Holocaust memorial.
“The people of Israel, you saw how Russian rockets hit Babi Yar. You know what this place means, where the victims of the Holocaust are buried,” he said.
Fighting intensified in the besieged city of Mariupol on Sunday.
Authorities in the southern port city said Russia had destroyed a school with 400 women, children and elderly people sheltering inside.
Local officials said the school’s building was destroyed and people were trapped under the rubble. There was no immediate word on casualties.
Mr Zelensky alleged Russian forces have committed war crimes in the city, where heavy fighting has now reached the centre. Fighting is also continuing in the the Kyiv region.
Russia’s defence ministry warned Ukraine has until the early hours of March 21 to give its answer on surrendering Mariupol, according to the Russian news agency RIA.
President Zelensky has been adamant that Ukraine will accept no peace terms that compromise its territorial integrity, but said he is ready for talks with Putin.
Russian forces on Wednesday also bombed a theatre in Mariupol where civilians were sheltering, authorities have said.
