Boris Johnson says Vladimir Putin ‘would be crazy’ to use tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine
Boris Johnson has told Sky News that he does not think Vladimir Putin will use a tactical nuclear weapon in his war in Ukraine.
There have been suggestions that the Russian president could carry out such a military strike as his forces continue to lose territory which they captured earlier in the invasion.
But in his first wide-ranging interview since leaving Number 10 for Sky News’ Ukraine: A Modern War programme, the ex-prime minister told Sky’s Mark Austin: “I don’t think he will, he’d be crazy to do so.”
Mr Johnson also said he will be travelling to the COP27 climate summit in Egypt next week, as question marks remain over whether Rishi Sunak will join him.
Putin’s hands ‘may prove he is unwell’ – live updates on Ukraine war
Mr Johnson said using a nuclear weapon would mean Mr Putin “would immediately tender Russia’s resignation from the club of civilised nations”.
The former UK leader said it would be a “total disaster” for Russia, which would be put into a “cryogenic economic freeze” and Mr Putin would “lose a lot of the middle ground of global tacit acquiescence that he’s had”.
Mentioning sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South Asia, Mr Johnson said: “There’s a lot of willingness to give Putin the benefit of the doubt. That will go, the minute he does anything like that.
“He would also crucially lose the patronage of the Chinese. And in his own country, I think he would trigger an absolutely hysterical reaction.”
You can watch the full interview on Ukraine: A Modern War on Sky News from 7.30pm tonight
Mr Johnson said if there was such a military act from Mr Putin, there would have to be a response of some kind.
“There are all sorts of options” both in NATO and the P3 nations (US, UK and France), he said.
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What is a tactical nuclear weapon?
But he added he thought it was “very, very, very, very unlikely that it will come to that (a tactical nuclear attack by Putin)”.
He also said it was a “critical” and “pivotal moment” for the world.
Looking ahead to how the conflict could be resolved, the former PM warned about the danger of trying “to comprise and find some sort of deal, some grubby bargain with Putin”, trying to encourage the Ukrainians to trade some of their territory, which Mr Johnson said “will only encourage Putin to make further aggression”.
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Putin’s only aim is to ‘spread terror’
He said that it is going to be very difficult for the Ukrainians to accept any deal that stops short of a full return of all the areas taken by Russia since the invasion began on 24 February.
Mr Johnson also said it was “absolutely inevitable” that the Ukrainians will eventually win the war.
“We have to show strategic patience and continue to support them,” he added.
A 15-year-old boy has died after “getting into difficulty” in a lake in southeast London, police say.
Officers and paramedics were called shortly after 3pm on Friday to Beckenham Place Park in Lewisham.
The Metropolitan Police said a boy “was recovered from the lake” at around 10.42pm the same day.
“He was taken to hospital where he was sadly pronounced dead. His death is being treated as unexpected but not believed to be suspicious,” according to the force.
The boy’s family has been told and are being supported by specialist officers.
The force originally said the child was 16 years old, but has since confirmed his age as 15.
In the earlier statement, officers said emergency services carried out a search and the park was evacuated.
Emergency teams were called to Beckenham Place Park on Friday afternoon
Beckenham Place Park, which borders the London borough of Bromley, covers around 240 acres, according to the park’s website.
The lake is described as 285 metres long, reaching depths of up to 3.5 metres.
It is designed as a swimming lake for open-water swimming and paddle boarding.
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said on Friday: “We were called at 3.02pm this afternoon to reports of a person in the water.
“We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team.”
Emergency teams have not explained how the boy entered the water, or whether he was accompanied by others.
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