Boris Johnson has attacked Donald Trump's "flat out lies" after the US President baselesy branded Ukraine's war time leader a dictator in a war of words.
In recent weeks Mr Trump has also blamed Moscow's invasion of Ukraine on Kyiv in comments that caused fury among European allies. Speaking on Tuesday, the ex-PM Mr Johnson said there was a good chance of peace.
But he warned there had been some "appalling misrepresentations" over the war. Mr Johnson told LBC: "It is incredibly painful for people who love Ukraine and believe in the fundamental innocence of Ukraine such as myself to hear it described as a war Ukraine started. Or to hear that Volodymyr Zelensky is a dictator, or that he kills American journalists or whatever. This is about absolute flat out lies." He added: "We must, must, must keep our cool and move on and see what I believe Donald Trump is really trying to do".
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In a separate comments Mr Johnson also told Sky News the insults hurled by Mr Trump at Mr Zelensky were "ghastly to hear", adding: "We all know that these are complete untruths." The former Tory leader also said the UK should spend billions more on defence and commit to spending 3% of GDP on defence. The issue is likely to be high on the agenda as Keir Starmer meets with President Trump at the White House later this week.
Mr Johnson also suggested that Britain should commit between 5,000-10,000 troops to a peacekeeping force in Ukraine if a deal is reached to act as a deterrent. Mr Starmer has previously said the UK government would be open to such a proposal. The ex-PM led the UK's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 before he was turfed out of office over the Partygate scandal. He later quit as an MP before a bombshell report found he misled Parliament.
Speaking on Monday the PM Mr Starmer also issued a grim warning that "Europe will be next" if Vladimir Putin isn't stopped on the third anniversary of Moscow's invasion. He said the voices of Ukrainians "echo in my ears" as he recalled meeting a patient called Petro in a burns unit."
He said to me 'if Ukraine fails, Europe will be next', and that is what is at stake here," Mr Starmer told an international summit in Kyiv. That is why we will always stand with Ukraine and our allies against this aggression and for a just and lasting peace". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped to end the war "this year". But fears are mounting that Donald Trump is preparing to sell out Kyiv for a botched peace deal.