Boris Johnson jabs at David Cameron and warns Donald Trump not to concede to Vladimir Putin

The former prime minister called for an increase in defence spending as he cosied up to the Republicans and called for them to unite behind Ukraine

Boris Johnson has warned Donald Trump he will fail to make America great again if he allows Ukraine to fall into the hands of Vladimir Putin as he called for the European nation to be allowed to join Nato.

Speaking at a conservative event in Canada, the former prime minister warned Donald Trump – who hopes to return to the White House following November’s US election – against a reported plan to pressure Ukraine to cede Crimea and the Donbas border region as a price for peace with Russia.

“If you are the party of Ronald Reagan, if you want to make America great again, then you don’t begin a new Republican presidency… by conceding victory to Vladimir Putin,” Mr Johnson said.

He added: “It would be a disaster for the West and it would be a disaster for America.”

Former prime minister Boris Johnson directly appealed to Boris Johnson to support Ukraine in the fight against Russia (PA Wire)

The former prime minister also urged Republicans to unite against Russia and deliver the $60billion package of aid that had previously been held up by Congress.

Taking the opportunity to press on foreign secretary David Cameron’s open wounds after he was snubbed by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson on a recent US visit, Mr Johnson appealed directly to his namesake.

“I would say Mike … my cousin Mike Johnson, long lost, separated …” he jokingly addressed the speaker, as he renewed calls for Ukraine aid: “America is currently investing in the US, supporting the Ukrainians about five per cent or less of their annual defence spending. It is a fantastically efficient way of supporting freedom.”

Speaking at the Canada Strong and Free Networking Conference in Ottawa, Mr Johnson said “the resolution to this problem is the security and the stability that comes with certainty about where Ukraine is and what Ukraine is”.

Appearing alongside former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, he added: “Ukraine has chosen to be a free, independent European nation oriented towards the west, towards the EU, towards Nato.

“And Ukraine must join Nato. That is the only logical way through this.”

He said fears such a move would provoke Mr Putin could not prevent action.

“We tried that … and look where that left us,” he said. “With the worst war in Europe for 80 years.

Donald Trump has been sceptical of Nato (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

“Nato is the body that gives certainty and stability and will bring peace. But in the meantime, give those Ukrainians what they need.”

He described Ukraine as a “formidable fighting force” and said they have often been supplied with “the right stuff at the wrong time, in other words, too late”.

“The Ukrainians will do the job if we give them the tools. Let’s give them the tools,” he said.

“They have shown they are a proud, independent nation and they are going to fight for freedom. What we need to do is keep supporting Ukraine, keep supporting freedom.”

His comments come after foreign secretary Lord Cameron stepped up calls for the US to release billions of dollars of extra funding for Ukraine.

Lord Cameron said a funding package held up in Congress by political wrangling would be good for US security and jobs and show the West was prepared to stand up against “bullies”.

But Lord Cameron told CNN during his visit to Washington: “Everyone wants to see an end to the killing and an end to the war. But you only get that by backing Ukraine, by showing strength.

“Peace comes through strength, not through appeasement and weakness.”

The foreign secretary was expected to meet with the Republican House Speaker earlier in the week but Mr Johnson declined to meet with Lord Cameron, reportedly claiming he could not find the time.

The speaker is refusing to table a table a vote on a bill that would send $60 billion of weapons shipments to Kyiv, despite pressure from UK politicians.

The Republican House Speaker refused to meet with Lord Cameron on a recent US visit (The Independent)

Mr Johnson spared no jabs at Rishi Sunak too, heaping criticism on the Conservative’s current direction, lambasting some of the “absolutely nuts” things “being done in the name of conservatism.”

The former MP urged Rishi Sunak to increase defence spending, telling the conference: “Now is the moment for an even more robust posture … We all need to recognize the world is more uncertain, more dangerous, we all need frankly to be spending more on defense — that goes for the U.K. as well as everybody else.”

Mr Sunak has come under fire for committing just 2.3 per cent of GDP to defence spending, with some in and outside of the party - including defence secretary Grant Shapps - calling for it to rise to 3 per cent.