UK Conservative Lawmaker Urges Johnson to Take Lead in Ukraine Crisis

LONDON (Sputnik) – UK Conservative lawmaker and former defenсe minister Tobias Ellwood said the United Kingdom must take on a more active role in defending Ukraine's interests, adding that the West has merely been "reacting to Russia’s events and playing into its tune."

"This is an opportunity to bring together our hard power, our soft power, our convening capability and show that we’ve got the appetite, the energy and the determination to defend European security," Ellwood told Sky News broadcaster.

The lawmaker said he would like to see UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling Russian President Vladimir Putin and "telling him to back away from Ukraine," but that before having that conversation he should announce that NATO forces are being deployed in the Ukrainian territory.

"We need a coherent policy and we don’t have that. We’re reacting to Russia’s events and playing into its tune," he stressed.

Western nations and Ukraine have accused Russia of massing troops near the Ukrainian border in alleged preparation for invasion. The Kremlin said that it has no intention of invading Ukraine while stressing that Russia has the right to move its forces within its own territory.

Russia has also expressed concerns over NATO's military activity near its borders and the ongoing military support of Ukraine, including an increase in the number of Western instructors in the breakaway Donbass region. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow does not exclude that the "hysteria" around Ukraine fuelled by the West is aimed at concealing Kiev's plans to sabotage the Minsk Agreements on Donbass.