MAKE DEMANDS OF HIM:

Now is certainly not the moment for Boris Johnson to join his French and German counterparts by pressuring President Zelensky of Ukraine to make concessions. It was reported last week that both Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz, on their recent visits and meetings with Volodomyr Zelensky, have urged him to accept not only the renunciation of NATO membership but the Russian interpretation of the Minsk II process in the Donbas dispute. That process is based on a ceasefire under conditions agreed under duress in 2015. It is seen by the Russians as requiring recognition of their puppet "republics" -- something that Zelensky could never accept, either de facto or de jure. Indeed, he was elected in 2019 on a platform of rejecting it. Such an interpretation of Minsk II amounts to allowing a Trojan horse into Ukraine.

Over the weekend, Zelensky reiterated his insistence on the territorial integrity of Ukraine in his magnificent address to the Security Conference in Munich. Boris Johnson politely rejected the charge of appeasement made by Zelensky, but that is precisely what Macron and Scholz are proposing. Boris should impress upon Biden the need to support Zelensky rather than undermining him. Only by showing solidarity with Ukraine will the West keep those Russian tanks on the right side of the border.

As Mrs Thatcher told George H.W. Bush after Saddam invaded Kuwait: "This is no time to go wobbly, George." Boris will choose his words more carefully, but Joe Biden needs to hear the same unambiguous message from the British this time -- and pass it on to the Kremlin. If Putin invades Ukraine, he will rue the day.

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