Johnson calls on Putin to take a step back from the ‘cliff’

The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson today called on Vladimir Putin to take a step back from the “cliff” in Ukraine, assessing that the situation is “very, very dangerous” with a Russian invasion possible “in the next 48 hours”.

“The situation is very, very dangerous and difficult, we are on the brink of collapse, but there is still time for President Putin to take a step back,” he said on British television.

“We call on the whole world to engage in dialogue (…) in order to prevent what would be a catastrophic mistake,” he added.

While Kiev has blamed Washington and London for the dangers of an imminent Russian intervention, Boris Johnson says “the evidence is very clear”: “There are some 130,000 troops stationed on the border with Ukraine. other signs of serious preparations for an invasion. ”

“The signs show, as he said [Αμερικανός] “President Joe Biden, that at least they are preparing something that can happen in the next 48 hours,” he said.

The United Kingdom on Friday urged British citizens to leave Ukraine immediately for security reasons.

Boris Johnson is expected to return to mainland Europe later this week to hold talks with northern and Baltic leaders.

Two weeks ago, he flew to Kiev to offer his support to Ukraine, where London recently delivered, for the first time, deadly weapons, anti-tank missiles.

The British Prime Minister also said that the sovereign right of the Ukrainian people to join NATO can not be expropriated and added that he will speak “very soon” with US President Joe Biden to help the diplomatic process.

“I think it is very important to have a conversation. But what we can not do is expropriate the sovereign rights of the Ukrainian people to aspire to join NATO … we can not bargain – it is for the Ukrainian people.” said Johnson.