The accusation by British ex-Prime Minister Johnson sounds outrageous: After the Russian attack, the German government hoped for a quick defeat in Ukraine for economic reasons. Chancellor Scholz’s spokesman denied it, but gave no details.
Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit has sharply denied a statement by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Germany’s Ukraine policy. “Johnson always had his own relationship to the truth, and that’s no different here,” Hebestreit said in Berlin, commenting on Johnson’s statement that Germany wanted Ukraine to be defeated at the beginning of the war. Johnson had told the broadcaster CNN: “The German view at one point was: If it happens, then it will be a disaster and it would be better for the whole thing to pass quickly. For Ukraine to give up.” Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s spokesman said in English: “This is utter nonsense.” “That’s utter nonsense.”
Johnson’s statements caused a stir, the federal government initially did not want to comment on them. Johnson went on to say that he could not support the German perspective. “I thought that was a disastrous view. But I can understand why they thought and felt the way they did.” Germany had put forward “all possible valid economic reasons” for this. According to the broadcaster, Johnson made the statements on Monday in a conversation with CNN presenter Richard Quest in Lisbon. But they only reached a larger audience on Wednesday.
The ex-prime minister, who traveled to Kyiv several times during the war, said the Russian buildup on Ukraine’s borders came as a shock. “We could see the numbers of Russian tactical battalion groups increasing, but different countries had very different views,” Johnson said. Before the Russian attack, many Western governments feared that Ukraine could be defeated within a few days due to the superior strength of the Russian military.
The former head of government also criticized France and Italy for their attitudes before the war broke out. With the Russian attack on February 24, however, views had changed, Johnson emphasized. “What happened was that everyone – Germans, French, Italians, everyone, (US President) Joe Biden – saw that there was just no option. Because you couldn’t negotiate with this guy,” Johnson said, looking at the Russian President Vladimir Putin. “That’s the whole point.” Johnson especially praised the EU’s response as “brilliant”.
