Former Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko has issued a stark response to Boris Johnson over his much-criticised comparison of Brexit to the war in Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s predecessor told ITV News on Tuesday: “Please, no comparison.”
“How many citizens of the United Kingdom died because of Brexit? Zero,” he said, pointing to “only today” 150 Ukrainian children were killed by the Russian military and that whole cities have been completely destroyed.
Speaking at the Conservative Party spring conference over the weekend, the prime minister said it was the “instinct of the people of this country, like the people of Ukraine, to choose freedom”, with the Brexit vote a “famous recent example”.
The comments sparked a backlash, with Labour condemning the “utterly distasteful” comparison.
No.10 has said the PM was not making a “direct comparison” between Ukraine’s resistance to Russian invasion and the Brexit vote but will not withdraw the comment.
A close source told The Times that Johnson regretted the remark. “It sounded better written down than it did when spoken,” the source said.