Despite the fact that Britain is cash-strapped due to the cost of living crisis, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged hundreds of millions of pounds sterling to the Ukrainian government.
Mr Johnson argued that the additional £429 million in aid funding to the beleaguered Zelensky regime was worthwhile because the cost of Russia remaining in power would be “much higher.”
The British leader, who is currently clinging to power amid swirling questions in Westminster about his potential demise, made the aid declaration on Sunday at the Group of Seven (G7) meeting in Germany’s plush Elmau Castle in the Bavarian Alps.
Johnson is not alone at the summit in facing significant domestic political strife, with French President Emmanuel Macron losing his parliamentary majority in the National Assembly last Sunday and American President Joe Biden’s approval ratings in the low 30s following a disastrous two years of failed economic and foreign policies.
Nonetheless, Johnson has called for people to rally behind Ukraine’s cause, which is likely to be a welcome distraction from the bad news cycles for globalist leaders.
“The price of backing down, of allowing President Putin to hack off parts of Ukraine, to continue with his programme of conquest – that price will be far, far higher and everyone here understands that,” Johnson said.
The recent round of British aid to Ukraine will take the form of World Bank lending guarantees, bringing the total amount of assistance given to the Eastern European nation since the Russian invasion in February to £1.5 billion.
In the meantime, the Johnson administration has refused to lower domestic taxes in the name of repaying massive debts incurred during coronavirus lockdowns and preventing further inflation, which has already reached its highest level in 40 years.
In addition to the £429 million aid package for Ukraine, the UK and the other G7 nations agreed to impose sanctions on Russian gold, the country’s second largest export after energy. The move will attempt to further restrict Putin’s government’s ability to operate in international financial systems.
“The measures we have announced today will directly hit Russian oligarchs and strike at the heart of Putin’s war machine,” Boris Johnson said.
“We need to starve the Putin regime of its funding. The UK and our allies are doing just that,” he added.