Boris Johnson tells Putin to ‘get the hell out of Ukraine’ and says Trump WON’T pull the

Boris Johnson has told Vladimir Putin to ‘get the hell out of Ukraine’ and says Trump won’t pull the plug on funding if he is elected because he ‘won’t want to be the president who surrendered to Russia‘.

Johnson urged Kyiv to take a quick route to ending the war, by forcing the Kremlin dictator to withdraw from annexed Crimea.

In a new interview aired in Ukraine, the former British Prime Minister predicted Trump – if re-elected to the White House – would continue to back Volodymyr Zelensky.

‘He will not want to become the president who surrendered to Putin,’ Johnson predicted.

He insisted it was not viable to hold talks with Putin, asking: ‘Is it possible to negotiate with a crocodile if your foot is in its mouth?’

The war would not end this year and ‘maybe not even next’, he said in an interview with TV journalist Dmitry Gordon during his recent visit to Kyiv.

‘It will all end when Russia and Putin realise that he is left alone against a force that will never retreat,’ he added.

But he urged Ukraine to keep up their targeting of Crimea – occupied for a decade – because it was Putin’s vulnerability.

‘I think one thing could change the situation very quickly – if Putin has problems in Crimea,’ he said, according to the translation.

‘If he feels the risk of losing Crimea, everything will be different in the Kremlin.

‘This is the scenario for a quick end to the war.’

Putin is known to view Black Sea mountain and beach peninsula Crimea as the jewel of his invaded Ukrainian territories.

Asked about his message for Putin, he said: ‘I would tell him: ‘Get the hell out of Ukraine!’

‘Do yourself a favour.

‘He controls the Russian media – he will find a way to explain everything to them.

‘He will say that Ukraine has been ‘denazified’… and all this nonsense.

‘He will say that he destroyed all the ‘Nazis’ in Ukraine. Amazing!

‘Now get out and rejoice in success!

‘And he would have succeeded.

‘The Russians would believe him and breathe a sigh of relief.’

Johnson denied Putin’s allegation that he had single-handedly stopped the Ukrainians from negotiating a peace deal at the start of the conflict in 2022.

Putin told ex-Fox News journalist Tucker Carlson that the former British premier ‘dissuaded’ Kyiv from an agreement, adding: ‘The fact that they obey the demand or persuasion of Mr Johnson, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, seems ridiculous.’

‘This is nonsense, it’s simply not true,’ said the former prime minister.

‘I don’t think that any Western leader at that stage, even if he really wanted to, could stop Ukraine and fight for his freedom.

‘I don’t think there was a deal to be done.

‘I do not believe anybody could see what that deal was…’

‘Is it possible to negotiate with a crocodile if your foot is in its mouth?

‘What kind of deal could there be…

‘I think it is Russian propaganda.

‘This is just Russian propaganda and an attempt to shift the blame onto someone else.

‘This is pure nonsense.’

Johnson also forecast the US would maintain its backing for Ukraine despite the current political impasse in Washington.

‘I think yes. I don’t know, but I would be very surprised if this doesn’t happen,’ he told Gordon.

‘Now everyone is discussing what about Trump, what will come of this?

‘Everybody just needs to be more careful, a little patient.

‘Elections are now being held. During elections, people can say different things.

‘They have different constituencies that they need to reach…

‘I think Trump will want to be the president who stands up for freedom and makes America great again.

‘He will not want to become the president who surrendered to Putin.’

Putin will today give his annual address to the nation, weeks before an election expected to hand him an easy victory as his troops make gains in Ukraine and the economy weathers Western sanctions.

Putin said his speech would ‘of course’ mention the presidential elections that will take place March 15 to 17 without any real opposition candidates on the ballot.

There is little doubt on the outcome of the elections, but Putin has been making numerous media appearances since the start of the year, including recently flying a Russian bomber.

He said he would already ‘set the objectives for at least the next six years’ during the speech today.

Other specifics of the address at the Gostiny Dvor Palace near Moscow’s Red Square remain unknown.