The former PM said Trump’s claims were designed to “shock Europeans into action”. Boris Johnson has hit out at Donald Trump’s claims that Ukraine started the war with Russia, dismissing them as inaccurate. In a message posted on X, the former prime minister said the US president’s statements on Ukraine “are not intended to be historically accurate, but to shock Europeans into action”. Downing Street has so far remained silent over Mr Trump’s remarks, as European leaders are set to meet in Paris for the second time this week to thrash out a response to the US president’s stance.
The prime minister will not attend Wednesday’s meeting, it is understood. Responding to Mr Trump’s comments, made on Tuesday evening, Mr Johnson said: “Of course Ukraine didn’t start the war. You might as well say that America attacked Japan at Pearl Harbor. “Of course a country undergoing a violent invasion should not be staging elections. There was no general election in the UK from 1935 to 1945.
