Johnson says inflation is a ‘price worth paying’ to defend Ukrainian freedom
Boris Johnson has today said soaring inflation linked to sanctions on Russia are a “price worth paying” as he compared Vladimir Putin’s regime to the Nazis.
The Prime Minister told journalists during today’s G7 summit in Germany that the economic effects of not helping Ukraine would be worse than what the UK is currently facing.
Western sanctions on Russia have helped lead to the cost of food and energy soaring in the UK, with inflation reaching a 40-year high of 9.1 per cent last month.
The UK was suffering from high inflation before Russia invaded Ukraine, however the war has turbocharged domestic price rises.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy today urged western leaders to stay unified in their support for his country, while also pleading for more defensive weapons.
It comes as a Ukrainian shopping centre in the city of Kremenchuk, with more than 1,000 civilians inside, was hit by Russian missiles.
Johnson said he could not “really see any alternative” other than helping Ukraine with more military aid and hitting Russia with more sanctions.
G7 leaders today promised that they would “stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes”, while also signalling that more sanctions against Putin’s regime are on the way.
“The point I would make to people is, I think that sometimes the price of freedom is worth paying,” Johnson told the BBC.
“And just remember, it took the democracies in the middle of the last century a long time to recognise that they had to resist tyranny and aggression. It took them a long time, it was very expensive, but what it bought in the end, with the defeat of the of the dictators, particularly of Nazi Germany, it bought decades and decades of stability [and] a world order that relied on a rules-based international system.
“And that is worth protecting, that is worth defending, that delivers long term prosperity.”
A statement from G7 leaders – the leaders of the UK, US, Japan, Italy, France, Germany and Canada – indicated that new sanctions could include capping the price of Russian oil and targeting the Kremlin’s revenue stream from gold exports.
The summit will finish tomorrow, with the final communique expected to be heavily focused on the Ukrainian war.