BoJo Requests MLRS Arty for Kiev to Stop ‘Crocodile’ Putin, Acknowledges Russian Special Op Progress

Verba MRLS  - Sputnik International, 1920, 27.05.2022
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The United States and its European, Canadian, Australian, and Japanese allies have already allocated tens of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to Ukraine, freeing up warehouse space of old guns, bombs, and vehicles left over from the Cold War, and assuring a bonanza of profits to the Western weapons manufacturers expected to replenish them.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has branded Russian President Vladimir Putin a “crocodile” that’s slowly but surely “chewing through” Ukraine, and suggesting that Kiev urgently needs heavy weapons.
“I think it’s very, very important that we do not get lulled – because of the incredible heroism of the Ukrainians in pushing the Russians back from the gates of Kiev - I’m afraid that [Vladimir] Putin at great cost to himself and to the Russian military is continuing to chew through ground in Donbass. He’s continuing to make gradual, slow but I’m afraid palpable progress, and therefore it is absolutely vital that we continue to support the Ukrainians militarily”, Johnson said, speaking to Bloomberg TV on Friday.

Asked about the potential of a negotiated settlement in Ukraine after months of protracted fighting, Johnson dismissed any prospect for negotiations, saying Putin could “not be trusted”, and asking “how can you deal with a crocodile when it’s in the middle of eating your left leg?”

British Secretary for Foreign Affairs Elizabeth Truss (L) walks to bilateral talks with her Japanese counterpart at the meeting of the G7 foreign ministers at the Weissenhдuser Strand in Wangels, Northern Germany on May 12, 2022. - Sputnik International, 1920, 26.05.2022
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The prime minister instead called on “the world” to send multiple launch rocket systems [MLRS] to Ukraine to “enable them to defend themselves against this very brutal Russian artillery”. He did not elaborate on which country or countries he was referring to with the word “world”.

Johnson did not specify whether the UK itself is ready to provide Kiev with MLRS. Last month, the Russian military warned that the use of British-made weapons in Ukraine to attack targets in Russia would receive an “immediate and proportionate response” after Undersecretary of State for the Armed Forces James Heappey said it would be “acceptable” to London if Kiev attacked Russian logistics and supply lines.

The UK has been one of the top providers of military assistance to Ukraine, pledging over $1.6 billion in new support this month, on top of the hundreds of millions spent since the 2014 Western-backed coup in Kiev, the origin point of the current crisis. British support has included the training of over 22,000 Ukrainian military personnel, the delivery of thousands of NLAW and Javelin anti-tank weapons and Starstreak anti-aircraft missile systems, armoured vehicles and Brimstone land attack missiles, and intelligence assistance.
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Britain promised to provide an unspecified amount of “long-range artillery” in March. However, media reports that the country planned to send 20 AS-90 self-propelled howitzers and 45,000 shells turned out to be false, with minister Heappey saying last week that Britain has for now instead been “encouraging other countries to provide ammunition for existing Ukrainian systems” and “facilitating” its delivery.
“The UK will provide artillery directly to Ukraine, details of these donations will be notified to the House once completed and the operational security situation allows”, Heappey said.
Russian officials have warned repeatedly that Western weapons deliveries to Kiev only serve to prolong the conflict, but will not alter its outcome, and have slammed the US and its allies for seeking to "fight Russia to the last Ukrainian" in a proxy war.
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