Good morning. boris johnson He is in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where he has been meeting Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed. In an interview he said that there is no possibility of Ukraine joining NATO any time soon. asked about President Zelensky’s approval yesterday that Ukraine would not join NATOJohnson replied:
I talked to Volodymyr [Zelenskiy], again, tomorrow. And you know, of course, I understand what he’s saying about NATO and the reality of the situation. And everyone has always said, and we’ve made it clear to Putin, there’s no way Ukraine will join NATO anytime soon. but decide about the future Ukraine For the Ukrainian people and for Volodymyr Zelensky to be their elected leader, and we will support them.
It is not clear what significance these observations may have. Vladimir Putin wants Ukrainian membership of NATO dismissed for good, and so Zelensky’s remarks – which Johnson semi-approved this morning – could be a sign that peace talks, which have so far been fruitless , Huh infiltration into a more severe area.
But equally it may be that Zelensky and Johnson are saying that what they think is clear, without any prior motive (a more common phenomenon in politics than one might assume). When asked about the significance of Zelensky’s remarks in an interview on the Today program this morning, liz trussThe Foreign Secretary replied:
It is a matter for Ukraine whether or not they decide to join NATO, and certainly a matter for NATO members.
I’ve always thought it’s not the real issue, it’s a smokescreen. If you look at all of Putin’s public statements – his 2007 Munich Security Conference speech, last year’s essay – It is about recreating a larger Russia, and essentially subordinating Ukraine under Russian authority, as well as expanding more widely into other Eastern European states.
This is the assessment shared by The Economist Oliver Carroll.
Oliver Carroll
(@olliecarroll)No. a) Zelensky and his team stated that NATO was not realistic before the war – but it was dependent on the NATO declaration given the constitutional commitment. b) Putin also knew that NATO is not on the cards. c) The broader basis of Putin’s decision to attack. https://t.co/4Tvcs1YU9Y
In his joint interview this morning, Johnson also downplayed the prospect of his trip to the Gulf today – after the United Arab Emirates, he will be in Saudi Arabia – about persuading the Saudis to increase oil supplies to the west. Last weekend, when the trip was first reported, No. 10 seemed to be at the briefing, but today Johnson claimed his trip was about drumming up more investment in wind power. In his pooled interview he said:
The reason for coming here is not just because they have oil. They are also some of the biggest investors here, in the Gulf, in renewable energy in the UK, in our wind farms. And that’s what we’re going to talk about.
Here is the agenda for the day.
at 10 am: Kevin Foster, Minister of Immigration, and Lord Harrington, the new Minister for Refugees, give evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Committee.
morning: Keir Starmer is on a visit to Huddersfield to oversee a retrofitting project.
at 10.15 a.m. (UK time): boris johnson Saudi Arabia is about to arrive. He is meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at 1 pm, and is expected to record a clip for the media in the afternoon.
12:00 pm: Deputy PM Dominic Raab confronts Angela RaynerDeputy Labor Leader, PMQs.
12:00 pm: Gordon Brown, former Labor prime minister, holds a briefing on the new ballot from Our Scottish Future, the group he founded to campaign for an alternative to both “No Change Unionism” and “No Compromise Nationalism”.
After 12.30 pm: MPs begin debate on a SNP proposal on Ukrainian refugees saying they do not need to apply for visas before coming to the UK.
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