UK's Boris Johnson denies being 'anti-Russian' after Moscow criticism

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that British prime minister is 'most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian'

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hit back at Moscow after the Kremlin effectively labelled him as enemy number one among western leaders.

The prime minister insisted after an emergency Nato summit in Brussels that he was not “remotely anti-Russian” after Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by the state-owned RIA news agency as saying that Mr Johnson is “the most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian”.

Speaking at the press conference in Brussels, the prime minister said: “Absolutely not, least of all me. I think I’m probably the only prime minister in UK history to be called Boris, I think I have that distinction, and I’m not remotely anti-Russian.

He also told reporters he has not, in principle, ruled out acceding to Ukraine’s request for tanks.

In a virtual address to leaders for, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s pleaded for “1 per cent of all your planes, 1 per cent of all your tanks”.

Despite hesitance among allies, Mr Johnson did not completely rule out Ukraine's request, saying instead that the move would be challenging “logistically”

Western leaders have said that providing such military equipment to Ukraine could further provoke Russian President Vladimir Putin.

World and US-led military alliance leaders gather at Nato headquarters in Brussels to discuss the war in Ukraine. Reuters

Smoke rises near a seaport in Berdyansk, Ukraine, whose navy reported it had sunk the Russian ship ‘Orsk’ in the Sea of Asov. AP Photo

Refugees with children wait for a transport after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine at a railway station in Przemysl, Poland. AP Photo

A girl sleeps as refugees from Ukraine wait at the railway station in Przemysl, Poland. More than half of Ukraine's children have already been displaced, Unicef said. AFP

A school destroyed in a Russian bomb in Kharkiv. AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks from the capital Kyiv. AP

Activists hold placards during a protest in solidarity with Ukraine, at Grand Central Station in New York. AFP

Ukrainian refugees take sandwiches at Krakow Airport before boarding a plane to Zurich, chartered by a Swiss millionaire. AFP

A man collects clothes from a damaged house in the city of Zhytomyr, northern Ukraine. AFP

A customer checks his rifle in a gun shop in Lviv, western Ukraine. AP

A mother tends to her newborn baby in the shelter of a maternity ward in the city of Zhytomyr, northern Ukraine. AFP

A serviceman carries the photo of Captain Andrei Paliy, a deputy commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, during a farewell ceremony in Sevastopol, Crimea. AP

A member of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces stands in front of a damaged house in the city of Zhytomyr, northern Ukraine. AFP

A Ukrainian serviceman guards a military check point in the city of Zhytomyr, northern Ukraine. AFP

Zinaida Bogdanova, a resident of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, reacts as she stays at a temporary accommodation centre for evacuees located in the building of a local sports school in Taganrog in the Rostov region, Russia. Reuters

Children play in front of a building damaged in fighting during the Ukraine-Russia conflict, in the besieged southern port of Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters

Graves of residents killed by shelling during the Ukraine-Russia conflict are seen in a yard, in the besieged southern port of Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters

A Russian army soldier stands next to local residents who queue for humanitarian aid delivered during the Ukraine-Russia conflict, in the besieged southern port of Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters

A Ukrainian serviceman stands on guard as Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, right, speaks alongside his brother, former heavyweight boxing world champion, Wladimir Klitschko, in the Ukrainian capital. AP

Family photos lie amid the rubble of the home of former teacher Natalia. The house, in Kyiv, was hit in a military strike. Reuters

A service member of pro-Russian troops, wearing a uniform without insignia, handles a mortar round at the weapons depot near Marinka, Donetsk. Reuters

Volodymyr, 80, rests inside his apartment, which was damaged by shelling, in Kyiv. AP

This Maxar satellite image shows the remains of high-rise apartment buildings in Mariupol. AFP

A man walks through a residential district of Kyiv that was damaged by shelling. Reuters

A woman exercises near a car and apartments damaged by shelling, in Kyiv. AP

Volunteers at a beach fill sandbags to defend their city, Odesa, in southern Ukraine. AP

A firefighter takes a break from extinguishing flames inside a house in Kyiv that was damaged by shelling. AP

Rescuers conduct search operations and dismantle debris in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AFP

People queue at a pharmacy in Kharkiv. AP

City workers cover the monument to Italian poet, writer and philosopher Dante Alighieri with sandbags to protect against Russian shelling in Kyiv. AFP

Former teacher Natalia stands near the ruins of her house which was hit in a military strike in Kyiv, Ukraine. Reuters

Locals clean the area at a residential district of Kyiv that was damaged by shelling, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues. Reuters

“What President Zelenskyy wants is to try to relieve Mariupol and to help the thousands of Ukrainian fighters in the city. To that end, he does need armour, as he sees it,” Mr Johnson told reporters.

“We are looking at what we can do to help. But logistically, it looks very difficult both with armour and with jets.”

But as Russian forces continue to pummel Ukrainian cities, causing millions to flee, Mr Johnson drew a line between the behaviour of Mr Putin and the Russian people.

“I think what we all agree is that what Vladimir Putin is doing, the way he’s leading Russia at the moment, is utterly catastrophic, that his invasion of Ukraine is inhuman and barbaric,” he said.

“And the conduct of that invasion is now moving into the type of behaviour that, as I said before, we haven’t seen.

“So, you can be sympathetic towards ordinary Russians, who are being so badly led, but you can be deeply hostile to the decisions of Vladimir Putin.”