Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has stated that, prior to the full-scale invasion, a senior official in the German Chancellor’s office suggested that, if war was inevitable, it would be better for Ukraine to lose quickly so that it would all be over. Johnson said he categorically rejected such logic and still considers it to be flawed.
Briefly about the main points
- Johnson described a conversation he had with a senior official in the German Chancellor’s office.
- According to Johnson, the official had anticipated Ukraine’s imminent defeat.
- The former British Prime Minister categorically disagreed with this position.
- Johnson linked the incident to criticism of Berlin and Paris.
A conversation with an official from the Chancellor’s Office
Boris Johnson He spoke of a senior official from the German Chancellor’s office who, prior to the invasion, had put forward the argument that the war would end quickly as a result of Ukraine’s defeat.
«A senior official in the German Chancellor’s office said to me before the invasion: «Wouldn’t it be better if it were all over quickly, if the Ukrainians lost and that was the end of it?» I strongly disagreed – and I still believe he was wrong.».
Back in November 2022, Johnson had already expressed a similar, broader assessment of the pre-war mood in Berlin. At the time, a German government spokesperson Steffen Gebeštrait rejected these claims and described them as untrue.
Criticism of the diplomatic approach taken by Berlin and Paris
The former prime minister described this episode as symptomatic of what he considers to be a fundamentally flawed strategy adopted by Berlin and Paris following the occupation of Crimea and leading up to the outbreak of the major war. He compared their approach to that of «family therapists» who view one state’s attack on another as a mere conflict.
Since 2014, Germany and France have been key participants in the Normandy Format, alongside Ukraine and Russia, and have supported the diplomatic efforts surrounding the Minsk Agreements. Johnson’s position is that this approach was misguided.
Before the invasion, Berlin suspended the certification of «Nord Stream 2», and following the start of the full-scale invasion, Olaf Scholz announced a change in Germany’s security policy.
