Boris Johnson declares Ukraine must prevail in Russia conflict

Boris Johnson has said Ukraine must "prevail" in a statement of unity with allied nations against the Russian invasion.

He addressed the Commons on Monday afternoon, having returned from last week’s Commonwealth, G7 and Nato summits.

Mr Johnson said the Madrid Nato summit “exceeded all expectations in the unity and single-minded resolve of the alliance to support Ukraine for as long as it takes”.

He added: “All of us understand that if Putin is not stopped in Ukraine he will find new targets for his revanchist attacks and we are not defending some abstract ideal but the first principle of a peaceful world, which is that large and powerful countries cannot be allowed to dismember their neighbours and if this was ever permitted, then no nation anywhere would be safe.”

The Prime Minister said Ukraine “must have the strength to finish this war on the terms that President Zelensky has described”.

Mr Johnson welcomed Finland and Sweden as Nato allies, their partnership he said showed the strength of feeling against the Russian invasion.

He added: “It was vital to have the opportunity to counter the myth and to point out that food prices are rising because Putin has blockaded one of the world’s biggest food producers.

“And if large countries are free to destroy their neighbours, then no Commonwealth member however, distance from Ukraine, would be genuinely secure.”

The UK will likely be spending 2.5% of GDP on defence by the end of this decade, Mr Johnson has said.

The Prime Minister told the Commons: “If you follow the trajectory of our programmes to modernise our armed forces, you will draw the logical conclusion that the UK will likely be spending 2.5% of GDP on defence by the end of this decade.”

He added: “Earlier at the G7 summit, the first full day of talks coincided with a Russian missile, destroying a Ukrainian shopping centre, killing at least 18 people.

“This barbaric attack on an obviously civilian target strengthened the resolve of my fellow leaders to provide Ukraine with more financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic backing.”

Mr Johnson told MPs the G7 also pledged “nearly 30 billion dollars of financial support for Ukraine this year”.

He added: “And we will tighten our sanctions on Russia and the UK will join America, Japan and Canada to ban the import of Russian gold, which previously raised more export revenues than anything else except hydrocarbons.

“The G7 will devise more options for ensuring that nearly 25 million tonnes of grain trapped inside Ukraine via Putin’s blockade reaches the countries that rely on these supplies.”