Boris Johnson tells Putin to ‘leave Ukraine’ and says Trump will NOT pull the plug on funding if elected because he ‘doesn’t want to be the president who surrendered to Russia’

Boris Johnson has told Vladimir Putin to ‘leave Ukraine’ and says Trump will not pull the plug on funding if elected because he ‘doesn’t want to be the president who surrendered to Russia’.

Johnson urged Kiev to quickly end the war by forcing the Kremlin dictator to withdraw from annexed Crimea.

In a new interview broadcast in Ukraine, the former British prime minister predicted that Trump – if re-elected to the White House – would continue to support Volodymyr Zelensky.

“He will not want to become the president who surrendered to Putin,” Johnson predicted.

Stressing that it is not feasible to talk to Putin, he asked: “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 year,” he said in an interview with TV journalist Dmitry Gordon during his recent visit to Kiev.

“It will all end when Russia and Putin realize that he is being left alone in the face of a power that will never retreat,” he added.

But he urged Ukraine to continue attacking Crimea, which had been occupied for a decade, saying this was Putin’s vulnerability.

“I think one thing can 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 consider the mountain and beach peninsula of the Black Sea, Crimea, as the jewel of his invaded Ukrainian territories.

Asked about his message for Putin, he said: “I would say to him: ‘Get out of Ukraine!’

‘Do yourself a favor.

“He controls the Russian media, he will find a way to explain everything to them.

“He’ll say Ukraine has been ‘denazified’… and all that nonsense.

‘He will say he has destroyed all the ‘Nazis’ in Ukraine. Astonishing!

‘Now go 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 claim 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 Prime Minister has “dissuaded” Kiev from an agreement, adding: “The fact that they are obeying the demand or the belief of Mr. Johnson, the former Prime Minister of Britain, seems ridiculous.’

“This is nonsense, it is simply not true,” said the former prime minister.

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

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

“I don’t think anyone 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’s Russian propaganda.

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

‘This is pure nonsense.’

Johnson also predicted that the US would maintain its support for Ukraine despite the current political deadlock in Washington.

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

‘Now everyone is discussing what’s going on with Trump, what will come of this?

‘Everyone just has to be more careful, a little patient.

‘There are elections now. During elections, people can say different things.

“They have different constituencies to reach…

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

“He won’t want to become the president who surrendered to Putin.”

Putin will deliver his annual address to the country today, weeks before elections that are expected to give him an easy victory as his forces 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 from March 15 to 17 without any real opposition candidates on the ballot.

There is little doubt about the outcome of the election, but Putin has made numerous media appearances since the start of the year, including most recently a Russian bomber.

He said that during today’s speech he would already “set the objectives for at least the next six years.”

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