A former White House national security advisor under President Trump will declare today that Britain has done more to help Ukraine fight back against Russia than America. “Britain has taken a leading role in the West’s efforts to defeat this aggression and to make the point to would-be aggressors around the world,” Ambassador John Bolton will say, adding, “In many respects, I say with some envy, taking a stronger and more effective view than the U.S.” Britain’s Telegraph newspaper obtained the remarks that Mr. Bolton is said to be preparing to deliver on the occasion of the launch of a new report on Britain’s post-Brexit role on the global stage.Washington has supplied Ukraine with more weapons than the United Kingdom, but Britain’s contribution to countering Vladimir Putin’s aggression comes in a close second. According to the Telegraph, Britain has already donated about 0.18 percent of its GDP in weapons, while Washington has sent the equivalent of 0.22 percent. From America have come 26,500 Javelin anti-armor systems, 108 Howitzers, and 20 Mi-17 helicopters; from Britain, notably, there have been more than 5,000 NLAW anti-tank missiles, M270 long-range multiple launch rocket systems, and artillery systems.Washington and Westminster have both provided real-time battlefield intelligence to Ukraine, which has proven invaluable in shoring up Ukrainian counter offensives on land, sea, and in the sky. Britain has arguably done more to boost the morale of the Ukrainian army than has Washington. To cite the most public-facing example, the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, has made two trips to Kyiv to meet with President Zelensky, with whom he is said to have a cordial relationship, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. President Biden, by contrast, has not visited Kyiv and moreover has no plans to do so during an upcoming trip to Europe.Underscoring Mr. Bolton’s statement to the effect that the lift Britain is giving to Kyiv as it stares down the Kremlin is more effective than Washington’s is that Mr. Johnson’s visits to Ukraine are producing the kind of tangible results that sometimes can only come from boots-on-the-ground involvement. Following Mr. Johnson’s most recent visit, Mr. Zelensky’s office said that Britain and Ukraine would work together on demining Ukrainian territory — an undertaking as hazardous as it is vital. Mr. Zelensky is also understood to have enlisted London’s support on increasing sanctions pressure on Russia, and has found a responsive ear in Downing Street to strategic imperatives that go beyond war materiel. ”I understand the need to continue financial support for Ukraine, to unblock grain exports that Putin has held hostage in an attempt to deprive the world of food,” Mr. Johnson said at Kyiv.The Ukrainian presidential office also said that for his part, “Boris Johnson noted the heroism of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, their courage and bravery. He expressed understanding of the impossibility of any compromise between the Ukrainian people and Russian President Vladimir Putin.”Mr. Bolton served as Mr. Trump’s national security advisor between April 2018 and September 2019 and also was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, between 2005 and 2006. In a recent op-ed piece in the Telegraph, Mr. Bolton also said that it is in America’s interests for a “strong UK” to lead the NATO alliance during the ongoing crisis in Ukraine beyond. He also took a swipe at President Biden, writing, “The truth is that Biden-Pelosi Democrats never liked Brexit. In their world, the EU is still the wave of the future.”
