Mikhailo Podolyak posted a tribute to Mr Johnson after the Prime Minister’s resignation speech, praising his leadership.
“To be a leader is to call Russia bad and take responsibility at the most critical moments. To be a leader is to be the first to come to Kiev despite rocket fire,” he wrote on Twitter, referring to Mr Johnson’s visit in April. , shortly after Russian troops withdrew from the outskirts of the city.
“Thank you @BorisJohnson for understanding the threat posed by the Russian monster and for always being at the forefront of supporting Ukraine.”
Pavlo Klimkin, a former Ukrainian foreign minister, said the news in Kiev would be greeted with dismay not because Ukrainians doubted Britain’s commitment, but because they saw Johnson’s personal style. as an asset in collecting the West†
“Of course there will be disappointment. It’s not about support from the UK. People understand it will stay. But the sense of personal commitment that Boris carries, and his personal sympathy for Ukraine will leave,” he told the Telegraph .
“The second point, which is politically important to us, is this: of course the UK support would be there and I don’t expect this support to diminish.
“But Boris, because of his emotion, because of his view of the situation, stood and stands for the others. He led the West on so many occasions, politically but also emotionally. Either a new British leader will lead the West emotionally over Ukraine, or she whether he will play more in some sort of partnership with the US is an open question. That kind of person with emotional involvement means a lot.”
outspoken supporter of Ukraine
Mr Johnson has been one of Ukraine’s most outspoken supporters among foreign leadersvisiting President Volodomyr Zelensky in Kiev twice since the beginning of the war†
His government was one of the first to send deadly aid to Ukraine in the days before the war.
The NLAW anti-tank missiles it provided were widely acclaimed for defeating the Russian attack on Kiev in February and March.
Mr Johnson claimed credit for leading the Western response to Russia’s invasion in his resignation speechand added: “Now let me say to the people of Ukraine that I know that we in the UK will continue to support your fight for freedom for as long as it takes.”
The Ukrainian government’s policy is supported by all parties in the House of Commons and is unlikely to change under a new prime minister.
However, Mr Johnson won widespread popularity in Ukrainewhere soldiers at checkpoints will often greet a British passport with praise for the Prime Minister.
However, his support for Ukraine has been described as opportunistic, with critics noting a link between challenges to his leadership and phone calls to Mr Zelensky.
He was reported to have scheduled another meeting with Mr Zelensky immediately after aides informed journalists that he would resign Monday morning.
Questions have also been raised about his attitude to Russia before the current war.
On Wednesday, he admitted before a House of Commons committee that he had met former KGB spy Alexander Lebedev without officials present. The meeting took place in Italy in 2018, when he was foreign minister.
The world reacts: from ‘scandal noodle’ to borrowing Mugabe’s tactics
Boris Johnson was compared to Donald Trump and Robert Mugabe and was even called a “scandal noodle” by a German newspaper as the world press reacted to the prime minister’s resignation.
Johnson was branded an “amoral, lying, serial adulterer” and there were claims that the Queen would be happy to see the back of a man whose “superpower” was his lack of shame.
This is the best – or worst if you’re the Prime Minister – of the global response to Thursday’s historic events.
Italy
Corriere della Sera, one of Italy’s leading daily newspapers, said: “In the end, he was not overthrown by his character (or lack thereof). He lost his position because of his crazy personality, that clown mask he created as a boy and which expressed itself in a character that was disorganized and amoral.”
The prime minister will be remembered as “a serial killer, a seasoned liar, a man fired from his first job at The Times for making up quotes for an article. It’s a relationship with the truth.” His political motto will remember him as a ‘genius buffoon’.