Boris Johnson plays down fears of Russian nuclear strike on Ukraine

UK prime minister said Russia's president has 'political margin for manoeuvre' to retreat from Ukraine

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, right, is interviewed by Tom Newton Dunn on TalkTV. PA

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson dismissed fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin could launch a tactical nuclear strike if his army remains bogged down in Ukraine.

Mr Johnson said the overwhelming support in Russia for the invasion meant Mr Putin had the “political margin for manoeuvre” to withdraw his forces if they fail to break Ukrainian resistance.

Analysts in the UK said the war in Ukraine must lead to changes to global security arrangements that include sending warplanes to Ukraine, while the Nato alliance hopes heavy artillery will frustrate Russian attacks.

Some analysts claimed a frustrated Mr Putin could use low-yield battlefield nuclear weapons if there were more setbacks in Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the threat of nuclear conflict “should not be underestimated”.

He accused Nato allies of “pouring oil on the fire” by providing increasingly powerful weaponry to the Ukrainians and he warned against provoking “world war three”.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres visits Borodyanka, near Kyiv, where Russian forces are accused of killing civilians. AFP

Children play in the wreckage of a Russian armoured vehicle in Lukashivka, Chernihiv region, northern Ukraine. The village has been retaken by Ukrainian forces. EPA

A cyclist passes a destroyed building in Derhachi village, near besieged city Kharkiv, in north-eastern Ukraine. AFP

Burnt-out wreckage of a tank in Kolychivka village, Chernihiv region, northern Ukraine. EPA

A Ukrainian flag flies in a park in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. A rocket attack on the city railway station earlier in April killed at least 50 people. AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses a meeting of MPs in St Petersburg. EPA

Youngsters Faddei and Oleksandr play in front of a church damaged during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the Chernihiv region. Reuters

A demonstrator turns emotional as she attends a rally in Kyiv demanding a humanitarian corridor to rescue civilians from Mariupol. Reuters

A Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-25 releases decoy flares as it provides air support to Ukrainian ground forces near central city of Yampil. AFP

An officer from National Guard of Ukraine surveys weapons left behind by Russian troops in Chernobyl. AFP

Mr Putin attends a meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Moscow. Reuters

Members of a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency carry equipment as they arrive at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. AP

Ukrainian troops fire rockets from the city of Popasna, near Luhansk. EPA

Lithuanian musician Darius Mazintas plays a piano in front of the Central House of Culture destroyed during Russia's invasion, in the town of Irpin, outside Kyiv. Reuters

Ukrainian refugees Julia, second left, 32, and Miroslava, left, 11, walk away with relatives who received them after they crossed into Poland from Ukraine at the Dorohusk border. AFP

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meets Mr Guterres in Moscow. AFP

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Mark Milley, left, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, second left, and Ukrainian Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov, right, attend the Ukraine Security Consultative Group meeting at Ramstein airbase in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany. Getty Images

Smoke rises from an oil terminal hit by fire in Bryansk, Russia. AP

People take pictures by the wreckage of a Russian military vehicle, in the village of Rusaniv, Kyiv region. Reuters

Smoke rises above the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant amid fighting in Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters

People carry a large Ukrainian flag as they attend a rally to mark the 77th anniversary of Liberation Day in Milan, Italy. The day remembers Italians who fought against the Nazis and Mussolini's troops during the Second World War. EPA

A Ukrainian soldier looks at a Russian ballistic missile's booster stage that fell in a field in Bohodarove, eastern Ukraine. AFP

People watch as a residential building burns after Russian bombardment in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. EPA

A young girl in front of people carrying a huge Ukrainian flag during a peaceful demonstration entitled 'Solidarity with Ukraine' in Krakow, Poland. Reuters

A boy stands next to a wrecked vehicle in front of an apartment damaged during the conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters

This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows damage at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP

A Ukrainian man rides in front of a destroyed building in Kharkiv which had been shelled by the Russians. EPA

A Ukrainian Territorial Defence fighter in a shelter with an Easter Cake near Kharkiv. Ukrainians mark Orthodox Easter today. EPA

Residents receive Easter cakes and apples handed out by pro-Russian troops on Easter Day at the Svyato-Troitsky Church in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters

A woman photographs the scene of yesterday's shelling in the southern Ukraine city of Odesa. Eight people were killed, including a three-month child, and about 20 were wounded. EPA

A military chaplain blesses Ukrainian soldiers on the occasion of Orthodox Easter not far from the city of Izyum in Kharkiv. EPA

An internally displaced man walks with dogs in the Palace of Culture, which was damaged by shelling in Rubizhne, eastern Ukraine. AFP

Tulips grow next to a building destroyed by shelling in Rubizhne. AFP

Internally displaced people wait to receive food inside a factory that has been turned into a shelter, in Severodonetsk. AFP

Members of the Ukrainian Red Cross carry a woman, 92, to an ambulance from a bunker at a factory in Severodonetsk. AFP

Ambulance workers move an injured Ukrainian serviceman to a hospital in Donetsk. AP

A woman sits inside a subway station that has been turned into a shelter, on the outskirts of second largest Ukrainian city, Kharkiv. AFP

Residents shelter in a subway station in Kharkiv. AFP

Anastasiya Kryvoho attends a candlelight vigil for Ukraine on the Orthodox Holy Saturday, in Toronto, Canada. Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses a press conference with international media in an underground metro station in Kyiv. AFP

Firefighters work at the scene of a fire after shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. EPA

A family from Myrne, a town occupied by Russian forces, wait to register with police at an evacuation point for people fleeing from Mariupol, Melitopol and surrounding towns. Getty Images

Oleksandr, 25, meets his parents Olga, 49, and Oleksandr, 50, who fled from the Russian-occupied village of Lyubimivka, at the evacuation point in Zaporizhzhia. EPA

Residents walk near a damaged military vehicle in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol. AP

A heavily damaged apartment building in Horenka. Getty Images

Residents wrapped in blankets stand near their houses damaged by Russian shelling in Odesa. AP

A Ukrainian flag is installed on top of a gob pile in Lysychans, eastern Ukraine. AFP

A Ukrainian soldier rests at a checkpoint in Severodonetsk. AFP

However, in an interview with TalkTV, Mr Johnson said the situation was not as perilous as suggested and that the West did not need to make concessions to avoid an escalation of the conflict.

“Given the massive Russian backing for what he is doing, given the apparent obliviousness of the Russian media about what is really happening in Ukraine, the paradox is that Putin has far more political space to back down, to withdraw,” Mr Johnson said.

“There will come a point when you [Mr Putin] say to the Russian people, ‘The military technical operation we launched in Ukraine has been accomplished, it has been technically a success.'

“I think he has far more political space than people worry about. People say we have to make a concession, we have to worry about what Putin might do because of the risk of his defeat.

“I think he has got a lot of space. He has got a lot of room for manoeuvre.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met on Tuesday. AP

Mr Johnson said Britain and other “sympathetic” countries would continue to supply more Nato-grade weapons, training and intelligence sharing to Ukraine.

While the prime minister insisted he did not want the crisis to escalate beyond Ukraine’s borders, he indicated he was happy to see the Ukrainians use British-made weaponry against Russia.

“They are being attacked from within Russia territory. They have a right to protect and defend themselves,” he said.

“We cannot accept the idea that this is some sort of stand-off between Russia and the West.

“Putin’s regime is engaged in a diabolical attempt to crush the life out of the Ukrainian state. What we are doing is helping the Ukrainians to protect themselves.”

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, in a speech scheduled for Wednesday, will say the West must be ready to ensure Russian defeat in Ukraine.

“We must be prepared for the long haul and double down on our support for Ukraine. Heavy weapons, tanks, aeroplanes — digging deep into our inventories, ramping up production. We need to do all of this.”

Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said Britain would providing the Ukrainians with Brimstone ground attack missiles “in the next few weeks”.

“Recently Ukraine has been asking for longer-range missiles, and the government has been exploring if stocks of Brimstone could be released,” he said in the House of Commons.

“This remains very much in line with our principle of evolving our support to Ukraine as the conflict evolves and their capability requirements change.”

He also said that Ukrainian strikes against Russian logistics lines and fuel supplies were legitimate strategies.

Mr Heappey said it was for Ukraine to decide what to target and he accepted that targets in Russia were vulnerable to Ukrainian attack.

“It is entirely legitimate to go after targets in the depth of your opponent's [territory] to disrupt their logistics and supply lines,” he said.