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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY HAS heaped praise on “true friend” and ally Boris Johnson, as the UK’s prime minister enters his final few days in office.
In an indication of the esteem in which the Ukrainian president holds Johnson, Zelenskyy has written a piece in the Mail on Sunday and spoken to the Sunday Times about his gratitude to the outgoing British premier.
In both, Zelenskyy also expresses his hope for future “close relations” with Johnson’s successor, who could be in line for an invitation to visit Kyiv.
Zelenskyy told the Sunday Times that it would be a “priority” to extend an invitation to the next prime minister, while he also admitted that he was “concerned” when he heard Johnson was resigning.
“When we learned that there would be a change of government, all of us were concerned,” he told the paper.
“Johnson was supporting us and a lot depends on the leader. The leader is the one who communicates. The leader is the one that mediates between a country and its people, and a leader has an impact upon society.”
Speaking about Johnson’s successor, he said of that relationship: “I can only pray that it will be at the same level as I had with prime minister Johnson.”
In the Mail on Sunday, he paid tribute to UK solidarity with the country since the Russian invasion.
Zelenskyy also used the article to thank Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, calling them “great leaders and friends of Ukraine”.
“At each and every meeting and conversation between us, Boris had one very good question: What else? What else do you need?”
“It became our watchword, guaranteeing effective progress. Believe me, not many politicians are ready to do this.”
Zelenskyy says that he believes “in the power of personal leadership”.
“I know it has not been an easy ride for Boris Johnson as he had to deal with many internal challenges. Prioritising support for Ukraine demanded a great courage and determination.”
He continues: “Last month, Ukraine celebrated the 31st anniversary of our independence.
“Again, Boris Johnson was with us, welcomed by ordinary Ukrainians.
“We even started to address him, warmly and humorously, as ‘Boris Johnsoniuk’ – a Ukrainian sounding surname if you put a stress on the last syllable – inspired by his Instagram account @borisjohnsonuk.”
Johnson will leave office on Tuesday, after a summer-long leadership contest between Truss and Rishi Sunak.
Thank you my friend President @ZelenskyyUa for your kind words.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) September 3, 2022
UK support for Ukraine and its people is unwavering, and we’ll continue to support you against Putin’s war.
Thank you for your friendship Volodymyr, you’re a hero, everybody loves you.https://t.co/a8AiE1EAz0
On Saturday he tweeted his thanks to Zelenskyy for his “kind words”.
“UK support for Ukraine and its people is unwavering, and we’ll continue to support you against Putin’s war.
“Thank you for your friendship Volodymyr, you’re a hero, everybody loves you.”
Liz Truss is widely tipped to become prime minister next week.
The Ukrainian president said he would welcome whoever the next prime minister is and would establish “close relations”.
“I sincerely hope that Boris’s legacy in this fight against Russian barbarism will be preserved.
“We will continue to fight on because we do not have any other option. It is our lives and our future at stake. And we still need the UK’s support and leadership.”
Zelenskyy concludes by paying tribute to “my friend Boris”.
Meanwhile, in an interview with the BBC, to be broadcast on today, Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska says that while the rest of Europe has been pitched into an energy crisis, Ukraine is at the forefront of Russian attacks.
“I understand the situation is very tough. But let me recall that at the time of the Covid-19 epidemic, and it’s still with us, when there were price hikes, Ukraine was affected as well.
“The prices are going up in Ukraine as well. But in addition our people get killed.
“So when you start counting pennies on your bank account or in your pocket, we do the same and count our casualties,” she said.
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Rolex is a private company.
Nothing to do with oil, they just don’t like the idea of wealth or expensive things and are now building a populist agenda for attention.
@Paolo Fandango: …and long may they continue. Eat the rich, etc.
@Ajax Penumbra: Sounds like it’s jealousy eating you, to be honest.
@Paolo Fandango: They’re actually a registered charity, believe it or not, which makes the whole situation even more dumb.
@Paolo Fandango: rolex donates 90% of its profits mainly to environmental, science and arts. Rolex.org provides more information
@Paolo Fandango: An stern example should be made for these offences.
@Paolo Fandango: what are they charging them with ?… assault with a deadly colour lol
@Dave Ryan: sure let’s go around to your gaf and cover it in orange paint that would cost a few grand to remove. You wound mind will you?
@Tommy Roche: well said, typical response from a left-wing snowflake
@The Bolt: registering as a charity for tax purposes is what most non profit organizations do. It does not mean they do charitable work. I think the name “charity” should be reserved for specific organisations while “non profit” should apply to the likes of these organisations and religions and sports and social clubs etc.
@Niall Ó Cofaigh: Rolex do distribute 90% of their profits for charitable causes. So although not a charity themselves, as a charitable foundation they do a lot of good for actual charities by way of large cash donations.
@Paolo Fandango: Suppose it’s working, doesnt matter the opinion, all these comments count towards that agenda and justify the publicity. The Ouroboros, etc.
@thesaltyurchin: not sure what comments you’ve been reading but 90+ percent of comments have no mention of agreeing the climate is at massive risk, they all just mention that these protesters are tw@ts.
In some cases any publicity is good publicity but not in this one unfortunately
@barry moore: Splort! So they’re target is actually doing useful things in the area they claim to support.
@Paolo Fandango: Jesus your always an angry little man …ya need to relax sometimes paolo …its not good for you that ya can’t take a joke sometimes…. although your use of the word gaf tells me everything….
@Dave Ryan: I’m fairness you weren’t exactly writing comedy gold there.
What does my use of the word ‘gaf’ tell you?
@Paolo Fandango: Do you think media outlets care wheather your for or against an issue. They just count clicks, posts and likes. Its not even about publicity, its about shifting units.
@thesaltyurchin: although you’re right, it’s not really relative to the overall discussion here.
@Paolo Fandango: This isn’t a ‘discussion’ it’s your own version at a populist agenda.
They should be sent to jail without anything that uses oil. No lights no heating no cooked food no hot drinks.
@bomber: For spraying a bit of paint, get a grip.
@Sos: yeah it’s wasteful
While some manager at a Rolex store is spending his morning looking for a cleaning company, its business as usual for corporations who are actually extracting and selling fossil fuels.
Why didn’t they spray a petrol station?
@Cian Martin: the added irony when said cleaning company has to send out a crew in a van and use supplies/equipment that were produced in another country and flown here. I’m sure people more familiar with this process could chime in, but I cant see the cleaning process being done without the use of fossil fuels
@Cian Martin: And how do think your food shows up in the supermarket or medicines show up in the hospital or the lights come on when you flick the switch. We wouldn’t have civilisation without fossil fuels. People could always boycott those corporations by simply not using anything that uses fossils fuels…. see how far you’d get.
@Cian Martin: I also don‘t understand why they used paint, a petrochemical, oil based chemical which will need solvents and other environmentally harmful chemicals to be removed all contributing to the problem.
Twelve months in the slammer would soften his cough.
@Benny McHale:
Should be doing Time for that caper
Time to stop giving these people a voice until they say something.
@Steve O’Hara-Smith: Do you think your comment and the associated likes are doing that?… Like they catagorise all the angry faces in a different place to the happy ones? lol.
Counterproductive vandalism
@John Byrne: Preffered when Kidult did it, subtle, under the radar. Proper vandalism.
Should have targeted Fossil watch store instead….I’ll get my coat
Met Police were quickly on the scene in their fossil fuel powered cars to arrest them! Then the cleaning crew arrived in their fossil fueled powered vans and started up their fossil fueled powered generators to power hose off the paint!
What a waste of fossil fuel!!
What a bunch a saps. And this is news worthy?
I wonder is the spray paint “Oil Based”???
@M.J. O’ Neill: God I hope its not desperate to get it off the hands
@M.J. O’ Neill: Oil based paints tend to use Linseed oil, not petroleum oil.
I wonder is he available to paint haysheds?
Yesterday Shell published quarterly profits more than double this time last year, this is what should be getting everyone riled up
@Laura Mulcahy: and I read that Europe has so much gas stored that ships cannot unload and the price of gas actually went negative for a time the other day. I agree that we should focus on these companies massive profits and stop blaming the Ukraine war alone
I’ve a Rolex and it operates without fossil fuel
@Paul: that’s the irony. Rolex watches are powered by Kinetic energy from movement of wrist or winding. They’re literally one of the greenest mechanical devices you can buy.
@Paul: More of an Omega fan. Rolex just got to in with the waspy, greaser types.
Exactly where do they propose we get energy from? You can’t just turn it off like a tap, yes we need to look towards renewable energy and honestly nuclear power but this type of nonsense will only damage any positive sentiment towards their cause.
Someone will get badly hurt soon.
wonder would they like it if somebody painted their house orange….Carrying out criminal damage loses all validity of any message they had in the first place. Absolute t8ats
What was going through this guys head as he was spraying a Rolex shop… take that you guys… so there…
Gonna see a few folks arrive here saying ‘’bUT tHE WoRlD Is GoNnA BuRn’’ bla bla bla and ‘’yOuRe MIsSing The POiNt’’
We’re not missing the point. We just see that these folks are being fo0ls.
These dopes throwing paint around are not doing anything to help their supposed cause. They’re just making the average Joe hate them.
@Paolo Fandango: cool story you’ve made up, needs dragons
I hope they are using water based paints
Badly want to start jailing those criminals
Oh no! Where will all the crims get their Rolex’s now?
What a bunch of complete ……! If they really are serious, let them concentrate their efforts on oil companies, petrol stations, car dealerships, airports etc. Those basically responsible for the bulk of emissions, even farmers. ”Mr Van Gogh, Does sunflower oil cause serious emissions” “No Barrycelona, but transporting 600 people to and from jail could give us a starry starry night”.
Is anti Oil or anti Wealth ??
@Koukliahills: The irony is that they can afford paint and fire extinguishers. I’d like to see them clear up their mess for a start. And donate to homeless people instead.
In the process of manufacturing paint there’s bound to be oil used somewhere
Paint looks oil based to me
They aren’t helping the climate
These law breakers won’t have an issue with me destroying their houses
Morons
More product placement…….
Can’t get Heinz soup out of my head
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