Boris Johnson’s Kyiv trip was a cynically calculated manoeuvre

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Johnson claims to have gone there purely to show solidarity with his ‘Ukrainian friends’ but that is only partially true (Reuters)

Lo and behold, Boris Johnson has unexpectedly travelled by train to Kyiv to hold face-to-face talks with Volodymyr Zelensky which, on the surface, is pretty impressive, as thus far no other world leader has done so.

Johnson claims to have gone there purely to show solidarity with his “Ukrainian friends” but that, of course, is only partially true. Undoubtedly, the primary reason he went was to impress not only the international community and media, but more importantly, to silence his detractors in this country. From that perspective, it is a cynically calculated but brilliant move as henceforth he shall be dubbed “Brave Boris” by the Tory press ad nauseam.

Nadine Dorries will swoon with adoration. Liz Truss will probably grind her teeth in fury because she didn’t think of doing it herself first, and male ministers will speak of him with admiration tinged with reverence. Yawn.