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Boris Johnson has hit out at Donald Trump\u2019s claims that Ukraine started the war with Russia, dismissing them as inaccurate. <\/p>\n
The former prime minister said the US president\u2019s statements on Ukraine – which were the latest in a series of controversial interventions by the Trump administration – \u201care not intended to be historically accurate, but to shock Europeans into action\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump caused outrage when he wrongly claimed Kyiv started the war, as well as claiming Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s approval rating stands at 4 per cent and the country should hold an election. <\/p>\n
Downing Street has so far remained silent over Mr Trump\u2019s remarks, as European leaders are set to meet in Paris for the second time this week to thrash out a response to the US president\u2019s stance. <\/p>\n
The prime minister will not attend Wednesday\u2019s meeting, it is understood. <\/p>\n
Boris Johnson said Trump\u2019s comments \u201care not intended to be historically accurate, but to shock Europeans into action\u201d (AP)Responding to Mr Trump\u2019s comments, made on Tuesday evening, Mr Johnson said: \u201cOf course Ukraine didn\u2019t start the war. You might as well say that America attacked Japan at Pearl Harbor.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course a country undergoing a violent invasion should not be staging elections. There was no general election in the UK from 1935 to 1945.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course Zelensky\u2019s ratings are not 4 per cent. They are actually about the same as Trump\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former PM later added: \u201cThe US believes Belgium, France and other countries are blocking. It\u2019s absurd. We need to get serious and fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also asked when Europeans are going to \u201cstop being scandalised about Donald Trump and start helping him to end this war?\u201d<\/p>\n
The intervention of the former prime minister, who was once a vocal supporter of Kyiv, comes after months of mysterious silence on the issue – in an apparent move to appease the president since he reentered the White House.<\/p>\n
Mr Zelensky, who said Mr Trump is living in a \u201cdisinformation space\u201d, warned that he would not sell his nation after Russia and the US started talks to broker a peace deal without Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Washington and Moscow started talks earlier this week, led by US secretary of state Marco Rubio and Russia\u2019s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.<\/p>\n
Ukraine was not invited to the negotiations which took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and concluded with ground rules for further diplomacy. European countries were also locked out of the talks.<\/p>\n
Sir Ben Wallace \u2013 who was defence secretary under Mr Johnson \u2013 accused the Trump administration of sharing \u201cgenuine fake news\u201d, as well as suggesting the peace talks were a waste of time.<\/p>\n
He posted on X: \u201cI think what President Trump is learning is that if you have no skin in the game you don\u2019t get to decide the fate of Ukraine. I am sure they all enjoyed their 4 hour talks today but they probably shouldn\u2019t have wasted their time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sadiq Khan slams Donald Trump’s ‘bonkers’ approach to Russia Ukraine peace talksLondon mayor Sir Sadiq Khan also took aim at the US president, saying that it \u201cbeggars belief\u201d that Mr Trump is \u201crewarding the aggressor\u201d and blaming Ukraine for Russia\u2019s invasion.<\/p>\n
He told LBC radio: \u201cWe have tens of thousands of Ukrainians who are refugees in our city because of Putin\u2019s illegal invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what beggars belief is for the president of the USA apparently rewarding the aggressor, not just in terms of giving him the 20 per cent of Ukraine that they currently occupy, but also somehow blaming President Zelensky for what\u2019s happened over the last two years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats said it is \u201cnonsense to suggest that Ukraine started this conflict\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cTrump’s effort to rewrite the history books is Orwellian – a move designed to please his friend Putin. <\/p>\n
“These distorted claims are also a threat to the UK as they undermine the rule of law and undercut European security. They prove more than ever why we need a stronger bond with our European partners: so we can challenge Trump’s damaging world view from a position of strength\u201d, Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson Calum Miller said. <\/p>\n
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former British Army colonel, urged European allies to \u201cstep up support\u201d for Ukraine, telling The Independent that Mr Trump is \u201cbeing hoodwinked by Putin\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cI agree with Boris – Trump is talking bollocks and being hoodwinked by Putin – he said he\u2019d end the war in 24 hours. He\u2019s living in some sort of fantasy land and doesn\u2019t seem to realise people are dying out there as he \u2018show boats\u2019 – we with Europe need to step up our support to Ukraine\u201d. <\/p>\n
Sir Keir Starmer will visit Washington next week (Lauren Hurley\/No 10 Downing Street)Sir Keir Starmer, who will visit Washington next week, earlier this week urged America to provide a \u201cbackstop\u201d to any settlement brokered between Kyiv and Moscow.<\/p>\n
He suggested this backstop would be necessary in order for the UK to put in place its proposal to put peacekeeping troops on the ground in Ukraine. <\/p>\n
While Mr Trump said he is \u201call for\u201d the promise to put British troops in Ukraine, he said the US does not need to deploy peacekeeping troops as \u201cwe\u2019re very far away\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailGet our free View from Westminster email I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our\u00a0privacy policy Boris Johnson has hit out at Donald Trump\u2019s claims that Ukraine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n