Boris Johnson pitches European ‘deterrence force’ as a security guarantee

Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a European “deterrence force” led by the British and French could be a security guarantee for Ukraine as the Trump administration pushes forward with talks to end Russia’s war.

Johnson, who was the first Western leader to visit Kyiv during the 2022 full-scale invasion, told “The Story” on Tuesday that the United Kingdom and France are the two countries likely to lead the deterrence force because they “let Ukraine down” in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.

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“We said to Ukraine, ‘You give up your nuclear weapons, we’ll defend you against attack, right?’ We didn’t do that, and shame on us,” he said.

“And so, I think what we need to do is go forward with a deterrence force composed of the Brits, the French, other European countries backstopped by the U.S. with intelligence support and command and control stuff that they need to do to make that viable, but no American boots on the ground.”

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Johnson praised the idea of a rare earth mineral rights deal between Washington and Kyiv, explaining that it would commit the United States to the “freedom, sovereignty and security of Ukraine.”

The former U.K. foreign secretary acknowledged that the proposed deal is more of an economic proposition than a security guarantee.

Two sources told Reuters Tuesday afternoon that the United States and Ukraine agreed to a draft of a rare earth minerals deal after weeks of negotiations. 

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy initially declined to sign a proposal brought by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, saying it didn’t provide enough security guarantees for his country.

President Donald Trump told reporters at the Oval Office that Zelenskyy may visit the White House on Friday to sign the deal.

A reporter asked the commander-in-chief what Ukraine gets out of the minerals deal, to which Trump responded, “$350 billion and lots of equipment, military equipment and the right to fight on.” 

Johnson told Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum that European countries ultimately want to strengthen Ukraine and turn it into a “steel-quilled porcupine” that is “fundamentally indigestible” to future Russian attacks.