"Quite sad." Johnson says Britain's interest in Ukraine waning

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was saddened by Britain's waning interest in Ukraine.

He said this in an interview with The Telegraph.

"The interest in Ukraine and the appetite is so low nowadays. I find it quite sad. I mean, it sort of comes and goes, but it's number one for me. Number one," Johnson said.

Assessing the work of his successors on Ukraine, Johnson stressed that Britain continues to play a very important role in this issue.

"But if you talk to some of my Ukrainian friends, they'll say that perhaps we're not in quite the leadership, the thought leadership, role that we were," the former Prime Minister added.

He added: "There are a lot of domestic issues that are very difficult right now, and you can see why they're distracted, but I think this is a big opportunity for Britain."

Johnson also said "I don't see any immediate way I can be particularly useful in British politics right now. But I think I can continue to talk about Ukraine."

He also called on European governments to seize USD 300 billion of russian assets frozen in Europe and send them to Ukraine, calling it "a down payment from russia to Ukraine on the reparations that russia will inevitably have to pay one day for what it has done."

Johnson said US President Donald Trump supported such a move: "He would like to do it, but the Europeans need to step up."

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on July 10, the British government announced that the United Kingdom and Ukraine would sign an agreement under which a subsidiary of the French group Thales would manufacture 5,000 anti-aircraft missiles for the needs of the Ukrainian army.

In addition, the United Kingdom expanded sanctions against the aggressor country of russia for its use of chemical weapons in the war against Ukraine.