Ukraine’s former president Petro Poroshenko has asked Boris Johnson not to compare the UK’s Brexit vote to his country’s fight against Russia, saying “zero” citizens died because of the decision to leave the European Union.
Johnson’s comparison, when he suggested British people backed Brexit with 52% of the vote because, like the Ukrainians, they choose “freedom every time”, was greeted with disbelief.
Downing Street has denied the prime minister was seeking to make a direct comparison between the devastation and loss of life in Ukraine and the UK vote to leave the EU.
Asked by ITV News about the comparison, Poroshenko, speaking in military uniform from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, responded: “How many citizens of United Kingdom died because of Brexit? Zero.
“Can you imagine how many Ukrainians died [when] they met Putin aggression? Only today we have 150 children killed by Russian soldiers and by Russian artillery. Only during the last week 2,000 children from Mariupol were captured and delivered back to Russia.
“Can I ask you how many houses were destroyed because of Brexit? We have whole cities that were completely erased … with this situation please no comparison.”
'How many Britons died because of Brexit? Zero'
— ITV News Politics (@ITVNewsPolitics) March 22, 2022
Former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko tells ITV News that @BorisJohnson should 'please' avoid comparing the Ukrainian resistance to Brexit https://t.co/1eNOWg9igo pic.twitter.com/6ZXuiIIUt1
Delivering a speech to the Conservative spring conference at the weekend, Johnson said: “I know that it’s the the instinct of the people of this country, like the people of Ukraine, to choose freedom every time.
“I can give you a couple of famous recent examples. When the British people voted for Brexit in such large numbers, I don’t believe it was remotely because they were remotely hostile to foreigners; it was because they wanted to be free.”
The remark was heavily criticised, including by some in the Tory ranks, while Labour has called on Johnson to apologise to both Ukrainians and Britons.
Poroshenko, who was president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019, called for British offers of support to be delivered faster and sooner.
He told ITV News: “Your hypersonic anti-aircraft system, which Prime Minister Johnson just a few days ago promised us we will receive – that will be the only possible way to stop Russian missile technology.
“Please, you promised it one week ago, they need to be here now. Stop any bureaucratic war, stop any political blah blah blah.”
He warned against trusting the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, or any of his promises and said Ukrainians did not need permission from him for their country to exist.