Boris Johnson: Send Typhoons to Ukraine so it can finish the job

Boris Johnson has put pressure on Rishi Sunak to send jets and tanks to Ukraine.

The former prime minister said more than 100 Typhoon jets were held by the UK and “the best single use” for them would be in Ukraine.

His call came after Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, used an address to Parliament to plead for warplanes, saying his country needed “wings for freedom”.

Mr Johnson, who struck up a close relationship with Mr Zelensky during his spell in Number 10, said: “It is time to give the Ukrainians the extra equipment they need to defeat Putin and to restore peace to Ukraine. That means longer range missiles and artillery. It means more tanks. It means planes.

“We have more than 100 Typhoon jets. We have more than 100 Challenger 2 tanks. The best single use for any of these items is to deploy them now for the protection of the Ukrainians – not least because that is how we guarantee our own long-term security.”

He said supplying the weapons now would help make the world safer by stopping Russia’s forces.

Mr Johnson acknowledged that supplying Typhoon jets to Ukraine would require the support of Germany, Italy and Spain – the other countries involved in its development – but he insisted that should not be a problem.

“Today’s investment in helping Ukraine will avert instability and chaos for years to come,” Mr Johnson said. “By helping Ukraine to push back Putin, we can make our world safer and, above all, save an innocent country from destruction.

“It is true that the Typhoon is a four-nation plane and that we require the approval of allies for export. But there is no reason to think that Germany or others should oppose our decision - these are UK planes.

“In the year since Putin’s barbaric invasion, we have learnt that he fears nothing except the heroism of the Ukrainians and Western willingness to give them the tools they need.

“Every time we have stepped up with more military support, the Ukrainians have responded and turned the tide of war. Now is the time to give them exactly what they need to finish the job.”

The UK has so far refused to supply planes, arguing it would take years to train pilots to use the sophisticated F-35s and Typhoons in RAF service. But Mr Sunak has now signalled that Ukrainian pilots will be trained on the jets as part of a long-term strategy.