Boris Johnson claims Ed Miliband is to blame for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine
Boris Johnson has slammed Andy Burnham’s decision to appoint Ed Miliband as foreign secretary, claiming the former Labor leader was responsible for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The former Conservative prime minister claimed Mr Miliband’s “failure to stand up to Assad” led “directly” to Putin’s first invasion of Ukraine and said the Kremlin would be “delighted” by Mr Burnham’s appointment.
To share Telegram In his article criticizing Mr Miliband’s new appointment, Mr Johnson wrote of
The article accuses the then Labor leader of blocking Britain’s military intervention in Syria in 2013 after Assad used chemical weapons to kill civilians.
The report claims that the failure to stop the Syrian dictator encouraged Putin to launch his first invasion of Ukraine in 2014.
Mr Johnson suggested he was partly to blame for giving Russia room to step in to support the Assad regime while serving as foreign secretary in 2016. However, at the beginning of 2017 he acknowledged that Assad could be allowed to run in a democratic election.
Mr Miliband moved into the role of foreign secretary – Britain’s top diplomat – on Monday as the new prime minister formed his senior team.
He is said to have been appointed as the new foreign secretary because of his experience of international leadership and negotiating with countries around the world during his time as energy minister in Sir Keir Starmer’s government.
However, it was reported that the White House was “deeply concerned” about the appointment and warned the new prime minister against this change.
Donald Trump’s cabinet reportedly told Mr Burnham that it would be difficult to work with him on any role internationally. Mr Miliband supports a number of green energy projects that Mr Trump does not favor. Telegram.
He has been reluctant to approve further drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea, something the President strongly supports.
A government minister was also forced to insist that Mr Miliband’s appointment would not adversely affect Britain’s relations with the US, despite him having been a vocal critic of Mr Trump in the past.
Mr Miliband, who will have to work closely with the US administration, has previously described the US president as a “racist, misogynist, self-confessed abusive bully”.
But when asked whether this would be an issue in his new role, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told Sky News: “No, I think, as always, this government will work with its allies around the world.
“I know from my experience in some of the trade agreement negotiations last time that there can be a robust exchange of ideas with our U.S. friends and allies. But they will defend what they believe their national interest is and they will do the same.”
He added: “Sometimes I think about the things that members of the US administration have said about different people in US politics. I mean, they’re a pretty powerful group in the US and I know they’re going to have their own priorities. We have our own priorities, too.”
“Can we work together on many issues of common interest in both countries? We certainly can.”
