The world is on ‘the edge of a precipice’ the Prime Minister said
Boris Johnson has said the situation in Ukraine is “very, very dangerous” and urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to step back from “the edge of a precipice”.
The prime minister said the evidence was “pretty clear” that Russia was planning an invasion, warning it could come as early as the “next 48 hours”.
Speaking to journalists on a trip to Scotland on Monday, Johnson said he thought an invasion was likely: “I think the evidence is pretty clear.”
He continued: “You’ve got about 130,000 troops massing on the Ukrainian border. There’s all sorts of other signs that show there are serious preparations for invasion.
“We’ve got to respect that, we’ve got to realise this is a very, very dangerous and difficult situation.
“We are on the edge of a precipice.”
However, he added there was still time for Putin to “step back” to avoid a “disastrous” invasion.
“What we are urging is for everyone to engage in dialogue, for a conversation to take place and for the Russians to avoid what I think everybody – certainly everybody in the UK – can see would be a disastrous mistake, disastrous for Russia.”
Johnson will chair an emergency meeting of the government’s COBRA committee on Tuesday to discuss the UK’s response to the current situation in Ukraine, while foreign secretary Liz Truss is expected to hold meetings later today.
On Friday, the foreign office advised all British nationals to leave Ukraine, while they still can.
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