The west is ready to maintain “unrelenting” diplomatic and economic pressure over the long term to ensure the failure of Vladimir Putin’s imperial ambitions, even if the Russian president succeeds in his immediate goal of overrunning Kyiv and seizing parts of Ukraine, Boris Johnson has vowed.
In some of his gloomiest comments since the start of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of its neighbour on Thursday, the prime minister said Putin appeared intent on unleashing indiscriminate firepower against Kyiv as he did on Grozny, which was razed to the ground in the 2000 Chechen war.
The world was faced by a struggle between “good and evil” in Ukraine, and Russians involved in atrocities should be aware they will face prosecution in the international courts for war crimes, he said.
But Mr Johnson insisted that a successful Russian seizure of part of the country would result only in a “prolonged crisis”, with guerrilla warfare from Ukrainian resistance backed by crippling economic sanctions from the international community.
Speaking during a one-day visit to frontline Nato states Poland and Estonia, the prime minister warned Putin that any attempt to hold Ukraine over the long term will be “militarily exhausting and economically ruinous” for Russia.
Recommended 40 mile-long Russian tank convoy headed to Kyiv - follow live Why has Russia invaded Ukraine? The conflict explained
And he urged the Russian president: “There is only one way out of this morass and that is to stop the tanks, to turn back the tanks on their way to Kyiv, turn them round and take the path of peace.”
World news in pictures Show all 50
1/50World news in pictures
World news in pictures 1 March 2022 Members of an Ukrainian civil defense unit pass new assault rifles to the opposite side of a blown up bridge on Kyiv’s northern front
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 28 February 2022 Members of the Ukrainian community of Rome collect basic necessities to be distributed to the Ukrainian population, at the church of Santa Sofia in Rome, Italy
EPA
World news in pictures 27 February 2022 Protesters crowd around the victory column and close to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to demonstrate for peace in Ukraine
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 26 February 2022 The Swiss Air Force fly in front of the Weisshorn mountain in the Swiss Alps prior to the start of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in Crans-Montana, Switzerland
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures 25 February 2022 A Ukrainian firefighter walks between at fragments of a downed aircraft seen in in Kyiv
AP
World news in pictures 24 February 2022 Firefighters work on a building after bombings on the eastern Ukraine town of Chuguiv. Russian armed forces are trying to invade Ukraine from several directions, using rocket systems and helicopters to attack Ukrainian position in the south, the border guard service said
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 23 February 2022 A woman wearing a face mask walks next to decorations at a shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand
EPA
World news in pictures 22 February 2022 Anganwadi workers take part in a protest march near Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence, demanding better facilities and working conditions for women
AFP/ Getty
World news in pictures 21 February 2022 An elderly woman stands in a street of the city of Avdiivka, eastern Ukraine
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 20 February 2022 High waves in Doolin in County Clare on the west coast of Ireland
PA
World news in pictures 19 February 2022 Sui Wenjing and Han Cong of China in action in Beijing, China
Reuters
World news in pictures 17 February 2021 A part of a damaged wall crashes onto the pavement during a storm in Berlin, Germany
AP
World news in pictures 16 February 2022 Syrian firefighters extinguish fire following artillery shelling by the Syrian regime on a fuel depot affiliated to the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadist group in the northwestern rebel-held town of Dana
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures 15 February 2022 Austria's Cornelia Huetter competes in the womens downhill final during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 14 February 2022 A Taliban fighter directs traffic as a street vendor sells red heart-shaped balloons for Valentine's Day, in Kabul, Afghanistan
AP
World news in pictures 13 February 2022 Russian Navy's diesel-electric Kilo class submarine Rostov-on-Don sails with an naval ensign of the Russian Federation, also known in Russian as The Andreyevsky Flag on it through the Bosphorus Strait on the way to the Black Sea
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures 12 February 2022 People participate in the Winter Snow Sports Festival in Kalam
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 11 February 2022 A tank during joint exercises of the armed forces of Russia and Belarus as part of an inspection of the Union State’s Response Force, at a firing range near Brest
Russian Defence Ministry/AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 10 February 2022 Multiple exposure photo of Magdalena Czyszczon of Poland during the Speed Skating warm up at the 2022 Beijing Olympics
Reuters
World news in pictures 9 February 2022 An Indian hand rickshaw puller waits for customers in front of a building displaying posters of different theater shows in Kolkata, India
AP
World news in pictures 8 February 2022 Starlings overfly Zaragoza, Spain
EPA
World news in pictures 7 February 2022 Performers dressed as superhero characters pose with a child receiving the Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 5-11 at a gym in San Juan City, suburban Manila
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures 6 February 2022 Cars stop before a flooded area, after Cyclone Batsirai made landfall, on a road in Vohiparara, Madagascar
Reuters
World news in pictures 5 February 2022 A woman carries a child as locals who were displaced by Cyclone Ana find refuge in an evacuation centre at the West Ankorondrano neighbourhood, Madagascar
Reuters
World news in pictures 4 February 2022 Performers take part in the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, at the National Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest, in Beijing
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures 3 February 2022 Italian Air Force aerobatic display team, the Frecce Tricolori, perform during the inauguration of the president of the Italian Republic, in Rome. Sergio Mattarella was elected for a second term
EPA
World news in pictures 2 February 2022 Italian athletes during training ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics
Reuters
World news in pictures 1 February 2022 People are sprayed with foam at an amusement park as part of holiday festivities on the first day of the Lunar New Year of the Tiger in Yogyakarta
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures 31 January 2022 Arterial roads are lit up as morning commuters drive along at dawn in western Beijing ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures 30 January 2022 Rafael Nadal reacts after beating Daniil Medvedev in the men’s singles Australian Open final. In doing so, the Spaniard won a record-breaking 21st grand slam title
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 29 January 2022 A worker cleans up crude oil on Mae Ram Phueng beach following a spill caused by a leak in an undersea pipeline owned by Star Petroleum Refining Public Company Limited in Rayong, Thailand
Getty
World news in pictures 28 January 2022 Medical staff in personal protective equipment are seen at a speed skating training session for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics
Reuters
World news in pictures 27 January 2022 Los Angeles sculptor Dan Medina has honored the anniversary of the deaths of Kobe and Gigi Bryant along with seven other passengers by placing a temporary statue of the two where their helicopter crashed two years ago today in Calabasas, California
REUTERS
World news in pictures 26 January 2022 The Central Reserve Police Force during the 73rd Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi, India
EPA
World news in pictures 25 January 2022 A winter swimming enthusiast dives into a partly frozen lake in a partly frozen lake in Shenyang, in northeastern China’s Liaoning province
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures 24 January 2022 A newlywed couple from the US enjoys a snowfall during a photo shooting near the Acropolis in Athens
AFP via Getty Images
World news in pictures 23 January 2022 Anti-vaccine and mask activists act out getting a vaccine during a ‘Defeat the Mandates’ rally on the National Mall in Washington, DC, USA
EPA
World news in pictures 22 January 2022 Horse patrol of the 2nd Lublin Territorial Defense Brigade on the border with Belarus in Wlodawa, Poland
EPA
World news in pictures 21 January 2022 Carlos Hebert Plante dives into freezing waters to use his boogie board as extreme cold weather hits Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Reuters
World news in pictures 20 January 2022 Children wearing traditional uniform take part in the children’s ‘Tamborrada’ drum event to mark San Sebastian patron saint’s Day, in Basque Country, northern Spain
EPA
World news in pictures 19 January 2022 A woman poses for a picture near an ice hole as a man takes a dip during celebrations of the Orthodox Christian feast of Epiphany in the settlement of Ivanovskoye in the Moscow region, Russia
REUTERS
World news in pictures 18 January 2022 Soldiers march during celebrations to mark Royal Thai Armed Forces Day at Chulabhorn Camp in the southern Thailand province of Narathiwat
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 17 January 2022 Novak Djokovic prepares to take his seat on a plane to Belgrade, in Dubai, after losing his bid to stay in Australia to defend his Australian Open title despite not being vaccinated against COVID-19
AP
World news in pictures 16 January 2022 A dog drinks water from a tap on Bondi Beach in Sydney
Getty
World news in pictures 15 January 2022 The Patrouille Suisse jets perform prior to the Men’s Downhill race at the Fis Alpine Skiing World Cup in Wengen, Switzerland
EPA
World news in pictures 14 January 2022 Hindu devotees take a dip in the waters of river Narmada in Budhni, on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, a day considered to be of great religious significance in Hindu mythology
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 13 January 2022 Kuwait City’s al-Hamra tower (right), the headquarters of The National Bank of Kuwait (centre) and the al-Rayah tower (left), caught in heavy fog
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 12 January 2022 An Ivory Coast supporter cheers before the group Africa Cup of Nations match between Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast at Stade de Japoma in Douala
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 11 January 2022 A shopkeeper poses for a photo in front of a shop selling decorations in the old quarter of Hanoi ahead of the Lunar New Year or Tet holiday
AFP/Getty
World news in pictures 10 January 2022 Members of the Serbian community march in Melbourne, Australia, in support of tennis player Novak Djokovic, who was being kept in an immigration detention center after his visa was revoked upon landing in the country
EPA
With a 40km-long convoy of armoured Russian vehicles approaching the Ukrainian capital, Mr Johnson’s comments indicated that he expects Putin to respond to the frustration of his hopes for swift victory by stepping up the scale of violence inflicted by his troops.
Putin has been forced into a “cul-de-sac” by the unexpectedly tenacious resistance offered by Ukraine’s army and people, said Mr Johnson.
And he has already demonstrated his readiness to resort to atrocity with a rocket attack on residential areas and on Freedom Square in the heart of the country’s second city Kharkiv.
“If you’re sitting where he is, his only instinct is going to be to double down and to try and ‘Grozny-fy’ Kyiv and to reduce it to [rubble] ,” Mr Johnson told ITV News.
“I think that that would be an unalterable moral humanitarian catastrophe and I hope he doesn’t do that. I hope he has the wisdom to see that there must be a better way forward.”
This map shows the extent of Russia’s attack on Ukraine
(PA)
In a speech in Warsaw following talks with Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki, Mr Johnson warned that Putin’s “imperial ambitions” do not stop at the Ukrainian border.
“Putin’s aim is to overthrow the post-Cold War order and destroy the vision of a Europe whole and free,” he said.
If the Russian president succeeds in taking Ukraine, “the outcome would be a world where aggression has triumphed, where might is right and extreme violence pays off and no nation would be safe”.
He made clear that this meant the west and its international allies being prepared for a protracted struggle to ensure the ultimate failure of Putin’s aggression.
Participants in the Standing in Solidarity with Ukraine vigil in Edinburgh on Tuesday
(PA)
“If the worst happens, and president [Volodymyr] Zelensky’s government is no longer able to function in Kyiv, we must prepare to support them whatever happens in the weeks ahead,” said the prime minister.
He acknowledged that this will impose costs on the British people and their allies in terms of rising energy prices and that in the longer term Europe will have to wean itself off Russian oil and gas.
？
Boris: Putin 'fatally underestimated' resolve of Ukraine
But he said: “If we are to have any chance of ending this nightmare, then Putin must understand that his savagery will be met with unrelenting economic pressure and that the west will be united in supporting Ukraine and that we are ready for a prolonged crisis.
“I have no doubt that if the west can maintain the extraordinary unity we have shown so far, if we can press ahead with the strategy we have set out – of international economic, humanitarian, and diplomatic assistance to Ukraine, along with defensive weapons – then Putin’s venture will ultimately fail.”
At a press confernce following talks with Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg at a UK military base in Estonia, Mr Johnson was confronted by a Ukrainian anti-corruption campaigner who called on him to comply with president Zelensky’s request for a no-fly zone.
Daria Kaleniuk told him: “Ukrainian women and Ukrainian children are in deep fear because of bombs and missiles which are going from the sky. Ukrainian people are desperately asking for the rights to protect our sky, we are asking for a no-fly zone.
“What’s the alternative for the no-fly zone?
？
'You are not coming to Lviv because you are afraid!' Ukrainian woman breaks down during Boris press conference
“Nato is not willing to defend because Nato is afraid of World War Three but it’s already started and it’s Ukrainian children who are there taking the hit.”
Recommended ‘I don’t think Trump figured out’ Putin’s Ukraine plans, adviser Fiona Hill says Liz Truss slaps sanctions on Belarus for supporting Russia Cultural backlash intensifies against Russia over invasion
But Mr Johnson responded: “Unfortunately the implication of that is the UK would be engaged in shooting down Russian planes, it would be engaged in direct combat with Russia.
“That’s not something that we can do or that we’ve envisaged. The consequences of that would be truly very, very difficult to control.”