Boris Johnson urges Western troop presence in Ukraine as signal to Putin
The presence of Western forces in Ukraine would show Russian President Vladimir Putin that Kyiv is firmly part of the West's security framework, former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sept. 8.
His remarks come as European leaders debate security guarantees for Kyiv in the event of a ceasefire or peace deal, with proposals to send foreign troops to prevent another possible Russian invasion.
Current proposals envision deploying a multinational reassurance force only after hostilities end. Russia has repeatedly said that it has no intention of ending its war against Ukraine short of total victory.
Speaking at the Borderlands Foundation Ukraine Defense Forum in London, Johnson argued that foreign presence would signal that "Putin does not decide which foreign countries... get to come to Ukraine and to help its defenses."
"The Coalition of the Willing could be visible proof right now to answer the question Putin needs answering in his own head," Johnson said. "The answer to that question is that Ukraine is part of the Western security architecture and that's fundamentally where it's going."
The former prime minister said symbolic promises were not enough, and a real Western presence was needed to demonstrate Ukraine's trajectory.
"We need to incarnate that choice by our presence in Ukraine... and make it physically, practically clear that Ukraine is on the path towards Western institutions, not just the EU, but one day NATO too."
Moscow has warned that foreign contingents in Ukraine would be treated as legitimate targets.
Johnson dismissed such threats, saying a visible Western presence in Ukraine would be the only way to shift Putin's calculations and force him toward compromise.
"That's the only conceivable way to move Putin from his current calculations... get him to compromise and to agree to a ceasefire," he said.
The comments followed the Sept. 4 Paris summit of the Coalition of the Willing, where President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders discussed a possible security framework.
French President Emmanuel Macron said after the meeting that 26 countries are ready to send troops or contribute other support as part of the guarantees.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has claimed that there is a "road map" for troop deployments in case of a ceasefire, but German Chancellor Friedrich Merz rejected the idea as premature.
The Ukrainian president has also urged allies to implement guarantees immediately.
